Image Credit: Victorian Native Seed an absolutely beautiful site where you can buy Native Indigo seed online.

It is not widely known that we have our own native source of indigo which grows commonly in many states of Australia. I’m lucky to live in an area where it grows everywhere! I also have several plants in my garden, I love it because as well as being very pretty, it grows under the eucalypts when not much else will. I’ve found it doesn’t like to get too dry or hot, it also doesn’t like husbands with errant whipper snippers (or errant husbands with whipper snippers).

But of course it isn’t just a pretty face, you can also dye with it!
Used conventionally it will impart a variety of bright yellows. I’ve also achieved a fast red by altering the pH of the vat.
Used in the same way as the more common Indigofera Tinctoria, Isatis Tinctoria (Woad) or Persicaria Tinctoria (Japanese Indigo) in a chemical reduction or fermentation vat (or the vinegar cold process) you will of course achieve the famous (and very popular right now) blue!

Precipitating the pigment

Silk dyed with Indigofera Australis

I’ve read some reports that Indigofera Australis is sometimes weak or unreliable. But this is true of many natural dyes. I haven’t had any trouble with it, I find Woad more problematic. I have been surprised at the depth of colour I’ve achieved from even a handful of leaves. It’s my favourite indigo to use, as you can see above it gives varied tones of blue. An unexpected discovery after opening a forgotten jar of leaves left fermenting in water was that they smelt quite pleasant, unlike many of my other long lost fermenting things! And the blue hue of the fermented leaves is always beautiful, almost magical. As I proselytise to class participants at the workshop, I don’t understand why it isn’t more commonly used. It’s certainly cheaper than imported indigo and better for the environment. The seeds collected from the pods which set after flowering germinate readily. It can be easily found in most good nurseries, particularly those specialising in natives.