How to Make Rainbow Roses

Rainbow roses are not a natural phenomenon. There are people out there selling rainbow rose plants or even seeds. Whatever it is, it won't produce rainbow roses. Yet still you can buy them at your local florist's shop. They are expensive. Make your own; it is cheaper; and once you have made them, you will appreciate better why they are expensive. This is a step-by-step how-to guide to make your own rainbow rose.



Before you start making your own rainbow rose, you need all the materials to make it. You obviously need a rose; it should be a white rose as any other color interferes with the effect you are aiming for. The rose can be as long as you want it to be, but at least 40 cm (16 inches) long; you will struggle with shorter ones. The staining process will take longer for longer roses; the water has to travel to the head of the rose after all.

 

You need four different water soluble colors. Choose the colors to be as different from each other as possible to give you maximum contrast. The colors you see when you buy them is not what you will get in the finished rainbow rose. You determine the color hue when mixing the color with water. Put little color in water for lighter hues and lots of color for the darker hues. You will have to experiment to find the mixture that will please you.



Four colors means you need four glasses to mix your colors with water in. Put them together as near as possible and top them up as far as you dare. You will also need two full bottles and a string. More about that later. And you need a very sharp knife; never use scissors on roses, they destroy the cell structure of the stem by squeezing; if you can't handle a knife, use secateurs.

Cut the stem of the white rose straight up for about 15 cm (6 inches). Two cuts at a 90 degree angle will give you four stem parts to put into the glasses containing the colors. The rose won't sit comfortably in the four glasses you prepared; to keep it from falling over and out, you need to keep it there and upright. Tie the middle of the string around the rose and fix it to the two bottles placed on either side of the glasses. Insert the four stem parts into the glasses containing the colored water and then move the bottles apart to fix the rose in place.



The duration of the staining process is determined by the length of the rose stem and the color intensity you want to achieve in the finished rainbow rose. It can take up to 24 hours to convert your white rose into a rainbow rose. Once the staining process is finished, you can cut off the split part of the stem or you can wire it if you want to keep it long. If you don't have wire, you can also use thread to bind it together.

The color the rainbow roses absorb during the staining process impedes the future water intake of the rose. That means that rainbow roses don't last as long as other roses you buy from your florist. Rainbow roses will not open any further after having been stained.



Now you have made your own rainbow rose, it is time to make that bouquet. Or maybe not. A rose on its own in a bottle can be as appealing as any bouquet, if the flower was made by you.

Further reading

Blue roses made at home

Bottled Flowers

Tea Cup Arrangements