Wild Flowers Are Wild in Name Only - Anne-Marie Duquette

Very quickly, as soon as Gamin had acquired the ability to hold pots filled with liquids without spilling them, she introduced him to the chemistry of dyeing. They spent long days roasting dogwood bark and drying orchard grass, then macerating them in rainwater for a day before bringing it to a boil and submerging the mordanted wool in it.

Ariette had her own way with the strange Gamin: from her, he learned the secrets of plants, the letters hidden in their delicate shapes, the colors that could emerge from their petals,...