Join textile designer Katrina Wilde for an immersive experience with plants, learn how to create natural dyes in the Spode Rose Garden - exploring the garden through botanical dyeing, create a swatch book of dyed and patterned textiles.

Working with the plants of the Spode Rose Garden, we will unearth the possibilities of natural dyes. In this session, we’ll explore how to coax colour from plant matter using simple techniques and tools, and each person will create a small swatch book of colour and pattern tests and we'll look at how to extend our colour palettes with pH modifiers. We’ll be using only natural fibres: silk, linen and cotton. Each person is also invited to bring an item of their own clothing to dye too - the piece should be ideally white or light coloured and must be predominately a natural fibre. A T-shirt or socks is a good place to start! We’ll talk about responsible, intentional practices and explore relationships and kinships with textiles and the plant world.

The workshop will run from 12-4pm on Saturday 18th September. Please feel free to bring a packed lunch with you and enjoy it in the garden. This workshop is suitable for all. If you have any questions, please get in touch.

Petals and Pots Helen Morgan will offer a hands on horticultural skill development session. Helen will support the Friends of Spode Rose Garden to propagate the Spode China Rose, and will share the process throughout the day with interested visitors.

Join Espi as she guides you through a moon salutation inspired yoga flow, followed by a grounding meditation. All created to bring your awareness to the power of nature surrounding us in the Spode Rose Garden. This session is adaptable and open to everyone.

Sign up in the garden for a one to one Plant Magic reading with Frances Disley, the Spode Rose Garden's Nature Cure Residency artist. Occupying all of the senses, Frances will work with you to find a plant companion that's right for you. She will then invite you to get to know your plant that little bit more and hopefully form a positive connection.

Rebecca Davies, an artist and illustrator with a keen interest in cartography but a brilliant inability to remember plant names invites you to drop in and take part in navigating, mapping and sign writing the names of the plants across the garden. You will assist her in illustrating a map for the garden that locates the plants and in addition, paint signs that will be installed permanently for future garden dwellers. Drawing, mapping, signwriting - and working together to learn some new plant names along the way!
Naming species allows us to expand our understanding, our interest, our ways of looking at the world around us....
- from gardens where we feel secure’ | rough trade books x garden museum

Join us for a dip in a dye bath! Bring your own garment to be overdyed with botanical colour. Items must be a natural fibre (cotton, linen, silk etc) Choose from solid, dip-dyed, resit or bundle dyed finishes, or go for a lucky dip instead. Drop your item off between 10-12pm, come back to the garden to collect at 4pm. Any questions, send a DM to @katrinawilde

Join artist Louise Adams (12 -4) for a painting and drawing workshop in the Spode Rose Garden, suitable for all ages, Louise will share her process of documenting the garden as part of her year long project, and will support you to paint and draw the garden as it shifts into the Autumn season. All materials will be provided, but feel free to bring anything you particularly enjoy working with. More details about Louise’s year long project in the garden HERE