How to make rainbow roses

The language of red rose is passion, “I love you” and “fall head over heels”. Each year during Valentine’s Day, red rose is no doubt one of the best-selling flower bouquets in the world. Apart from red roses, other top-picked flowers for beloved ones include white roses, yellow roses and pink roses. Among these flowers, blue rose and rainbow rose are the latest flower gift trend. What is a rainbow rose? The unique rainbow rose was designed and developed by Peter van de Werken whose professional background and hard work made the stunning rainbow rose successful. However, because of high technology and cost of transportation, getting the real rainbow rose from Holland is extremely expensive. Even so, the desire of owning one rainbow rose in our life time never stops; that’s how DIY rainbow rose gain its popularity.

So how to DIY the rose color? How to make the kaleidoscope roses? Just 4 easy steps to dye the multi colored rainbow roses on your own.

1. Prepare 3 to 5 fresh white roses. White roses are easier to absorb the colored water and transform into more beautiful rainbow flowers than other deeper color roses; imported roses tend to do a better job than the local ones after the dyeing process and can last longer. Once you get the freshly cut white rose, you don’t need to put them in the water; on the contrary, leave them dry for a few hours before putting in the colored water to make the absorption faster and easier.

TIPS: Avoid getting unbloomed roses or full bloom ones. The unbloomed ones cannot showcase the best color of rainbow rose and the full bloom ones might wither in a short time while dyeing the rainbow rose takes certain amount of time to finish the process.

2. Rainbow rose coloring materials. Use food coloring or professional floral dye.

TIPS: Using food coloring is relatively cheap and is recommended by many people. But after our experiment, it proves that using food coloring takes a long time for the rose to transform the color while professional rainbow rose dye is quicker and comes with a successful result.

3. Box cutter or other sharp knives

TIPS: The sharp knife is used to split the stem of the roses into pieces. As the stem can be quite thin, it’s not convenient to use scissor and the less sharp knives as they might break the stem while splitting and affect the coloring process.

4. Containers for colored water. (Glass bottle, test tube, small zip plastic bag)

TIPS: If you want to be environmental friendly and save money at the same time, it’s wise to use the glass bottle after drinking your daily milk as the container. When using the bottles as containers, it’s best to stick them together to make sure the flower stem soak up the colored water better; if you decide to use the small zip bag, tie them all together so as to keep good absorption.

After getting everything ready, you may start to DIY your own rainbow rose.

First of all, split the base of the stem into 4 parts with box knife, the length of the cut is approximate 5cm to 8cm depending on the height of the container. However, the longer you cut the stems, the easier for them to break, so it’s best not to use a very tall container. After that, cut the split stems slant to increase water absorption. Generally speaking, the thicker stem is easier to split and to absorb the colored water.

Secondly, put the rainbow rose floral dye into the container. If you use food coloring, the proportion of water and dye would be 1:2 to 1:50. If you use professional floral dye, you could just use it without mixing with water. The higher the concentration the deeper the color; the longer the flowers stay in the colored water, the color will be deeper too.

Last but not least, place 4 sections of split stems into 4 containers, stick them together, and then wait about 12 to 24 hours for the beautiful handmade rainbow rose to complete.

If it’s your first time to make the rainbow rose, you might not get the most beautiful flowers as expected; but just as making cakes for the first time, it might not be as pretty as the ones sold at the bakery shop, but the idea of handmade gifts is enough to impress your precious ones. The Dutch imported rainbow rose is stunning but super expensive; so if you want to have rainbow roses with less budget, the best way is to DIY them and give your beloved one a big surprise.

Our florist hand picked materials from nature as the finishing touch of the mini rainbow bouquet.

P.S: Rainbow rose is designed and developed as cut flowers, therefore, you cannot grow rainbow rose from a seed. The original designer from Netherland also warns customers not to buy seeds which are claimed to be able to grow into rainbow rose.

related article:

DIY Dried Flower FAQ

How to create pretty dried flowers

How to DIY rainbow roses FAQ