The rainbow rose is a

rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

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 water with added dye in different colours, 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. Besides roses, other cut flowers like the

chrysanthemum Chrysanthemums ( ), sometimes called mums or chrysanths, are flowering plants in the Asteraceae family. They are native to East Asia and northeastern Europe. Most species originate from East Asia, and the center of diversity is in China. Co ...

carnation ''Dianthus caryophyllus'' ( ), commonly known as carnation or clove pink, is a species of ''Dianthus'' native to the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean region. Its exact natural range is uncertain due to extensive cultivation over the last 2,00 ...

hydrangea ''Hydrangea'' ( or ) is a genus of more than 70 species of Flowering plant, flowering plants native plant, native to Asia and the Americas. Hydrangea is also used as the common name for the genus; some (particularly ''Hydrangea macrophylla, H. m ...

, and some species of

orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Earth ...

can also be colored using the same method.

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 (likely 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 , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

and

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

, as this cultivar absorbs the different dyes perfectly. "Vendela" has a flower diameter of in full bloom, a stem length of , and is not scented. Other

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

s 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.

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. Other color combinations are also possible, though black and white are impossible to make.

References

{{Rose Roses