Rubia tinctorum A rambling plant that doesn't have much above ground to recommend it to a garden, here is is growing in my deep-bed scrambling over Japanese Indigo. (Growing it in a deep bed means you can get at the roots easier)
It is quite an easy plant to grow and withstood the winter of 2008/9 which was our coldest for a long time. The stems have little soft spikes that enable it to cling like goose grass, but they do not hurt.
My experiments have shown that the fresh woody roots from older plants give the best red dye (see chart)
some lovely big mature plants currently available, these sell out as soon as I put them up!
