Still feeling slow

The weather is BEAUTIFUL today.  It is sunny but not hot - perfect summer weather.  Unlike yesterday which was just weird. I took the dog out at 6.00am to beat the heat, it was only 12C and it was a bit cool. Then the day heated up to the mid-30s, then a cool change came - very windy - and brought the temperature right back down to the 20s.  I like it when it doesn't stay hot!
Anyway, I went out and turned over my pieces of silk, still leaving the plant-stuff in with the fabric. It will have had some heat and some warmth. And then some coolth (I read a book once that kept using that word, not sure it exists and can't be bothered looking it up - it's a lazy Sunday, summer afternoon in the holiday period).
This morning I went out and took out the flower heads and threw them in the compost, the alum is supposed to be alright for plants. There were a few tiny spots of colour that could have been from the flowers rotting, I am not sure. They are so tiny that I am not going to worry about them, the tentative plan I have for the fabric requires it to be cut up and appliquéd anyway. So unwanted spots will not matter.
I rinsed out some of the smaller pieces of silk but decided to leave the larger pieces still soaking.

Some are just in jars with the dye bath.
I then decided to experiment further.
I had kept some of the flowers just in the room, letting them dry out.

They have gone much darker and are crumbly.  So I crumbled them further.

They are in a blue ice-cream container and look more purple in the photo than they really were, some were tending towards brown.

I laid out the bits between layers of silk that I had not rinsed, poured in a little more liquid, just to keep it moist, and sealed it in a plastic bag. It is out in the glasshouse, brewing.

I think the liquid is getting more red and darker, but that might be wishful thinking. I will contain myself in patience and have a look tomorrow.
In the meantime, I have rinsed and dried the smaller pieces and they have turned out a lovely grey, with slight blue and purple overtones.  I used some crinkle silk, nubby silk and some velvet.  The gauze cotton has maintained some colour too.

Oh, I decided that the dandelion fabric was just too boring.

I am thinking I will need some green fabric so put in a little copper sulphate to see what happens.  So far the dye bath has turned slightly greenish but I am not sure what the fabric is doing.  I will leave if for a couple of days and see what happens.

It still looks pretty murky.  The fabric may have to be used in appliqué, lots of little pieces hidden among others.