Rainbow rose

The rainbow rose is a rose that has had its petals artificially colored. The method exploits the rose natural processes by which water is drawn up the stem. By splitting the stem and dipping each part in different colored water, the colors are drawn into the petals resulting in a multicolored rose. With these changes to the rose, it causes them to not live as long as an uncolored rose. The colors are artificial.[1][2] Besides roses, other cut flowers like the chrysanthemum, carnation, hydrangea, and some species of orchids can also be colored using the same method.[3]

A rainbow rose with petals in main spectral colors, except where the petal is green or orange or potentially purple
Rainbow roses for sale
A pastel rainbow rose

History

Agatha Christie’s notorious Poirot mystery “The Gilded Lily” popularized the practice of artificially altering floral color patterns in cultured society only as recently as the 20th century.

Contrary to unfounded claims (probably the Dutch) no rainbow roses or other artificially colored flower arrangements appeared at any expos in Holland in or before 2007.

Cultivars

A commonly used cultivar is "Vendela", a cream colored Hybrid Tea cultivated in the Netherlands, Colombia and Ecuador, as this cultivar absorbs the different dyes perfectly.[4] "Vendela" has a flower diameter of 6 cm in full bloom, a stem length of 40 to 100 cm, and is not scented. Other cultivars that can be used for this coloring process are Rosa La Belle and Rosa Avalanche+. Some vendors use the cultivar name to describe their products, e.g., Vendela Rainbow Rose, or Rose Avalanche Crystal Green.[5]

Color combinations

The Original Rainbow Rose has the seven colors of the rainbow and is the most popular rose in this category. However, there are also the tropical variant with combinations of red/pink and yellow, and the ocean variant with combinations of green and blue.[1] Other color combinations are also possible, though black and white are impossible to make.

References
  1. António A. Monteiro, Roberto Lopez and Jules Janick. "Gilding the Lilies: Rainbow Roses and Confetti Poinsettias" (PDF). Chronica Horticulturae - Volume 48, Number 1, 2008. International Society for Horticultural Science. p. 16. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  2. "'Rainbow' roses are all the rage". Metro. 6 February 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  3. "How to dye carnations". wikiHow. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
  4. "rosa Vendela como rosa Rainbow". variedadesderosas.com. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
  5. "Roses - Dyed". Triangle nursery. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
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