Dried flowers and herbs are an excellent decorative material for flower arrangements. Dry plants have many advantages over natural flowers. Firstly, they are more durable, and secondly, they are available to everyone. Material for compositions from dry plants is always with us - in forests, parks, meadows and even on the alleys of a big city. Dried flowers do not need special vases with water. Anything can serve as "dishes": wire and paper, dry branches, snags, bark, straw weaving, foam plastic. In specialized stores, you can purchase special containers with "piaflor" - a sponge for attaching live, dry and artificial plants, or piaflor, which is cut out in the shape of a container and inserted tightly into it. Dry and artificial material can be held using needle and perforated holders, wire, plasticine, sand, moss, glue... You can use thermal guns.
It is necessary to collect material for a winter dry bouquet at various periods of plant growth. Some are interesting in spring, others during flowering, and many in autumn, when the fruits ripen.
The most diverse material is used for the preparation of dry compositions: these are natural dried flowers, i.e. those plants that, when dried, retain their decorative effect, and ordinary garden and wild flowers, dried in a special way, and ornamental onions, ferns, cereals, branches of shrubs and trees, dried together with fruits, such as hawthorn, barberry, viburnum, sea ​​buckthorn, snowberry, euonymus and many others. From aquatic and meadow plants, reeds, sedges, cattails, reeds can be used for bouquets.
Northern forests provide a lot of material for arrangement. Dry branches of trees, shrubs, roots, lichens, heather are collected here. In pine and spruce forests, you can have many branches covered with light silver lichens - they look very impressive in compositions, but they cannot be immediately brought into a warm room. You must first dry them in a dark and cool place.
Sprigs with fruits of alder, birch, maple, linden, willow look great in bouquets. Pine, spruce, cedar, larch, etc. cones serve as excellent material for New Year's compositions.
When composing compositions, you can use nuts, dried slices of orange, lemon. It is very good to dry plants in alum, semolina, clean, dry and calcined sand. But it is best to use silica gel for this purpose - then drying is faster. Before use, it is crushed, dried in the oven. Then they take a cardboard box, pour a layer of silica gel 2-3 cm thick on the bottom, carefully place the plant on it, straighten it, and then very carefully cover the whole plant with silica gel, trying not to deform the petals and leaves. The duration of drying, depending on the type of plants, can be from 2 days to a month.
In this way, even roses, lilies, orchids, terry dahlias can be dried well. Some plants can be "preserved" by treating them with glycerin. The solution is prepared from 1-2 parts of glycerin and 4 parts of boiling water, for better absorption of the solution by plants, cuts are made at the ends of the stem. The solution is poured into the dishes in such a way that the stems can be immersed in it by 3-4 cm. Usually this operation takes 2-3 weeks. As the solution is absorbed by the plants, it is filled with new portions. As a result of this treatment, the stems and especially the leaves acquire elasticity, but somewhat change their color. It is from the change in color that one can conclude that the plant has absorbed glycerin. Then the ends of the stems must be washed with water and dried. It is good to treat with glycerin such plants as reeds, reeds, astilba, branches of magnolia, wild rose, small-leaved maple, yarrow, meadow grasses and others.
Microwave Drying The microwave oven expands the drying options for flowers and herbs that are silver or gray in color. This drying method has no equal in terms of color retention and efficiency - after all, the whole process takes a matter of minutes! The open drying method is the easiest: on several layers of filter paper, spread the flowers in layers and turn on the oven at half power for 2 to 3 minutes, then take the flowers out and hang them by the stems for a couple of days if you do not need them for arranging right away. This is a good method for plants with many small flowers (gypsophila, cuff, goldenrod, lavender).
Preservation of plants with glycerin: 1. Cut and prepare the material. Evergreens can be cut for conservation at any time of the year, deciduous - in mid-summer or autumn. 2. Thoroughly mix one part of glycerin with two parts of boiling water, immerse the plants in the solution to a depth of 7.5 cm. Keep the vessel in a cool shady place. 3. Inspect the plants every week - sometimes wipe the upper leaves on long branches with a cloth soaked in an aqueous solution of glycerin. 4. Take out the plants when all the leaves change color. The process takes from 1 to 8 weeks, depending on the type of plant; if necessary, a solution is poured into the vessel. 5. Finished plants are blotted with a paper towel. Plants should be hung upside down for a few days before use, so that they fix their shape. Plants that look beautiful after conservation: rose, camellia, beech, rosemary, hydrangea, ferns, mountain ash, pear, boxwood, oak, willow, magnolia, eucalyptus, rhododendron.
In some plants that are not actually dried flowers, flowers and inflorescences retain their decorative effect when dried quickly. At the beginning of blooming, such flowers are cut and tied into small loose bunches so that the flowers and leaves do not touch each other. Then they are hung upside down in a dry room. So you can dry the ageratum, aruncus, achillea, hydrangea, panicled gypsophila, freesia, cornflower, celosia, burnet, liatris, solidago, etc.
If desired, dried flowers can be given a different color. For this, it is best to use organic dyes:
- Shades from raspberry to red dried flowers can give alcohol-soluble eosin. In a warm solution of eosin, lichens, feather grass, and gypsophila stain well.
- Natural green with all the variety of shades is obtained by dyeing dry plants in a decoction of fresh potato tops with the addition of a small amount of iron sulfate (5-10 g per 10 liters of decoction). The blue color is obtained by soaking field cornflower flowers in a decoction with the addition of vinegar (1 tablespoon per 10 liters of decoction). The color vibrancy of natural blue tones can be preserved. To do this, before drying, the plant must be sprayed with a 6-9% solution of acetic acid.
- The brightness of the color of natural yellow flowers can be preserved if the flowers are treated with a decoction of maple leaves or calendula flowers before drying (boil 0.5 kg of raw material in 1 liter of water).
- The pink color can be preserved if plants with pink flowers are soaked in an aqueous extract of linden. The extract is prepared as follows: freshly picked linden flowers are soaked for 2-3 days in soft (rain) water at the rate of 100 g of flowers per 1 liter of water.
You can paint dried flowers with special color sprays or paints for natural materials, which are sold in floristic departments. Dry flowers and cereals, in addition to special dyes, can be tinted using aniline dyes for cotton fabrics. Lightly moistened with water from a spray bottle, dry plants are lowered with their heads down into a hot (90 degrees) dye solution (see instructions for preparing the solution on the dye package) and kept in it until it cools. If the paint is very bright, you can hold it for a short time and then lower the plant into clean water to reduce the brightness of the color. After dyeing, the plants are hung to dry and then used for composition.
Autumn leaves, as well as acacia flowers, violets are best dried with a hot iron through 4-5 sheets of blotting paper.
Dried plants can be tinted. For this, watercolor paints and special design sprays are used. However, you should not get carried away with this so that the plants do not lose their natural appearance.
For New Year's compositions, branches and herbs that have undergone crystallization are often used. To do this, prepare a saturated solution of common salt (2:1). Plants are lowered into it for 1-2 days. After crystal growth, the plants are removed from the solution and dried. It is possible to achieve the formation of crystals faster. To do this, it is necessary to lower the material into a boiling solution and immediately take it out into the cold.
If copper bisulfate or iron bisulfate is added to a solution of table salt, the color of the crystals will be blue-green.
To obtain an orange color of the crystals, potassium bichromate is added to a sodium chloride solution. It is good to treat branches of larch, spruce, pine, hogweed inflorescences and the like with a solution of common salt.
Dried plants are stored in dry, cool, well-ventilated areas, avoiding direct sunlight.
Dried flowers: Ammobium, achillea meadowsweet, heather, helipterum, helichrysum, gypsophila paniculata, gomphrena, xerantemum, lunaria, mordovnik, panicum, wormwood, cattail, eryngium, statice, physalis, cellosia, edelweiss and others.
Plants whose fruits or testicles are used for dry bouquets: Hogweed, Hedgehog, Iberis, Flax, Lunaria, Nigella, Artemisia, Sinegolovnik, Stakhis, Physalis, Echinacea.
Ornamental cereals Wheat, rye, oats, barley are field cereals. Reed, cattail - wild. Cereal plants: Breeze, haretail, bromus, lamarckia, miscanthus, fescue, pampas grass, pennisetum, polypogon, panicum, setaria, falaris, maned barley.
Dried flowers need care. The most important thing is not to expose them to sunlight so that they do not fade. Also blow dust off them and occasionally spray with hairspray.
Branches of an exotic shape
Dynamic and spectacular compositions can be created using branches of an unusual shape, which can be made using elementary tools at hand and your own imagination.
Cut long thin branches of trees or shrubs - they should bend easily and not break. Well suited willow, red
Clean them carefully from the bark.
Wrap them around any object you like in shape - an elongated bottle, a chair or table leg, etc. and secure the twisted branch with a cloth, swaddling it tightly. Adjust the number of turns at your own discretion - the same bottle shape in this case can give you different options for branches.
When the twisted branches dry, unwind the fabric, remove the branch and use in the composition.
Composition
Choose a vessel in which the dried flower will be located. It can be a vase of any shape, a jug, a cut of a tree, etc. A transparent vase, which is now at the height of fashion, can be filled with nuts, pebbles or acorns - they will hide ugly stems.
Imagine the place of the composition and, accordingly, its size: what height, what volume, with what it harmonizes from the surrounding objects
Find a suitable volumetric shape of the composition: it can be an isosceles triangle, a ball, an ellipse, a pyramid, a curved line, a crescent. Draw mentally all the straight lines limiting the space of the bouquet.
Start picking flowers and other details in the composition, imagining the desired shape, arranging the flowers so that they look in all directions - the composition should be attractive from all sides, not just from the front.
Remember the principle: there should not be too many decorative elements - unusual branches, fruits, cones, otherwise the composition will look cumbersome.
Dried flowers should also be used to decorate gifts. Small flat plants can be pasted on greeting cards. And tie a bunch of dried flowers with a ribbon to a present. And then your gift will become truly unforgettable, and you will be known as a great original. Alas, even the most charming dry bouquets will eventually become covered with a layer of dust and take on a very “unappetizing” look. Therefore, from time to time, dust particles need to be blown off from them in the literal sense of the word. This should be done with a rubber pear. Occasionally, dried flowers must also be subjected to water procedures: spray with warm water from a spray bottle. After such a “puzzle”, the flowers should be allowed to dry, and then coated with hairspray. By the way, after the "bath day" dry flowers begin to smell stronger. To enhance the natural smell of the plant, you can drop a little essential oil on it.
Conservation:
With the help of glycerin. For this method of preserving flowers, you will need glycerin, which must be diluted with boiling water (1: 2). Place pre-harvested plants in this solution and place the dishes in a cool, dark place. Now wait for all the leaves to change their color. This process can take from one to several weeks. So be patient and, if necessary, add a solution of glycerin to the vessel. The plants that have reached the condition must be taken out, let them dry on a paper towel, and then hang them “upside down” for several days to dry. With the glycerin method of preservation, the plant does not dry out at all. Just glycerin replaces water in the tissues, maintaining the elasticity of the leaves. This method is good if you want to preserve thick branches of plants such as rose hips or mountain ash and expect berries to remain on them.
With the help of wax. Another quick preservation method is as follows. It is necessary to warm up the wax, dip the plants in it for a minute and then cool them in cold water.
Site materials used.

Irina Popova

In the world colors so warm and cool

A whole bunch of flavors and sounds…

Every flower- He's handsome in his own way...

In the form of exquisite festive cups.

In the world flowers I would like to stay,

Become the heroine of stories and fairy tales,

To admire the beauty every day,

Merge with the harmony of light and colors.

(Larisa Kuzminskaya)

One day, my mother and I went to a shopping center where there were many different stores. But they were all so boring. And then I saw behind the glass many, many different colors. It was flower shop. I really love flowers! And so my mom and I went to this store. There I saw colorful chrysanthemums, roses, carnations ... Such colors I have not met before. The sales girl told us what these flowers brought out by special people - breeders. And I thought: is it possible paint flowers at home?

Hypothesis:

1. Cut the flower will turn into the color of food coloring.

2. Cut the flower will die if put in non-food coloring.

3. The flower in the pot will be painted if it is watered colored water.

An object research:

1. White rose.

2. White chrysanthemum.

3. White primrose in a pot.

Target research: receive flowers of different colors at home.

Tasks research:

1. Learn how you can color flowers.

2. Conduct experiments on coloring flowers at home.

How can color flowers? On the Internet, we found the following ways.

First, create for flowers special growing conditions. True, this is a way for experienced breeders. Thanks to them work, we can admire tea roses, unusually beautiful gladioli, striped chrysanthemums and dahlias.

Second, you can cover flowers with a special coloring composition from a spray gun.

Third, put cut flowers in dyed food coloring water, which will transfer them color.

Fourth, water flower with a whole root system of water, dyed.

The last method - tinting - is the easiest and most common. With it, you can color flowers in the right shade and at home.

We have chosen the most accessible methods for us staining- put cut flowers in water, painted different food colorings, and watered the primrose in a pot colored water.

We needed:

1. Cut chrysanthemum white colors.

2. Water tanks - 4 pcs.

3. Food coloring - 4 colors(pink, yellow, blue, orange).

4. Turmeric.

Here's what happened after 2 hours: in blue color chrysanthemum dyed most brightly. In yellow and orange color is less bright. in pink the color didn't fade at all.

Chrysanthemum placed in turmeric completely stained. Perhaps the turmeric should have been poured with hot water in advance. Therefore, we decided to conduct this experiment separately. And try paint chrysanthemum with beetroot juice and henna.

We needed:

colors.

2. Water tank - 2 pcs.

3. Turmeric and henna brewed with boiling water.

4. Freshly squeezed beetroot juice.

The result began to appear within an hour. Chrysanthemum, which was placed in beetroot juice, began to stain! Coloring came from the lowest petals. But the chrysanthemums that stood in the water with the addition of turmeric and henna did not completely painted.

We decided not to stop there and check will color whether chrysanthemum ink for the printer. We assumed that flower wither and took only one flower.

We needed:

1. Cut chrysanthemum white colors.

2. Container for paint - 1 pc.

3. Water based printer ink red colors.

Contrary to our expectations, the chrysanthemum did not wither, but bright enough dyed in 2 hours. The printer ink probably contains natural organic ingredients. Unfortunately, we could not find the exact composition of the paint.

We decided to check if it is possible paint a flower in two colors at once.

For this we took:

1. White rose colors.

2. Water tank - 2 pcs.

3. Food coloring - 2 pcs. (green and yellow colors) .

After 2-3 hours, the first results: rose has become can be painted in 2 different colors on both sides. On one side, the outer petals turned green, on the other side, yellow. A day later, the rose is maximally stained and acquired a very beautiful green-yellow color.

Is it possible paint a flower in a pot by watering with dye?

We took:

1. White primrose colors in a pot.

2. Water, painted red food coloring colors.

For a week, we watered the primrose every day, painted dye to red color. However, we did not see the result, unfortunately. The experience failed.

Thus, we carried out 5 experiments on coloring flowers. Our flowers stained with the help of food coloring and with the help of printer ink, and we also managed to paint a rose two different colors. I really enjoyed our experiences. Now I can white color the flower which I want.

conclusions:

1. During the experiment, I learned how water rises along the stems flower and nourish the petals.

2. I learned that flowers, devoid of roots, also have the ability to absorb water.

3. How and thanks to what you can change flower petal color.

Municipal budgetary educational institution

"General Educational Institution Lyceum No. 11"

HOW TO COLOR LIVE FLOWERS?

Performed

pupils of the 5th "B" class Elshina Anna

Survilova Daria

Supervisor

Scientific director

Krasnoyarsk 2012

1. INTRODUCTION

2. PROGRESS

1. Introduction

Nature has rewarded us with an extraordinary gift - color vision, and with it it has made it possible to admire the beauty of the surrounding plant world. We look with hope at the delicate greenery of spring foliage and sadly admire the yellow-orange gamut of the autumn forest. Who has not admired the colors of a flowering meadow, forest edge, autumn foliage, garden and field gifts? We compare hair color with golden ears of bread, and eye color with blue cornflowers. Even the names of flowers themselves - orange, purple, indigo - also come from the names of plants.

It would seem that in nature there are all possible colors. But man has always wanted not only to know nature, to admire it, but also to surpass it. For a long time it was believed that there could not be tulips, roses or carnations of pale blue or purple. Now flowers of amazing colors appeared in abundance in the flower pavilions. Most likely, for some time they stood in a container with a saturated dye solution, which provided them with an unconventional color.

We set ourselves the goal: to find out if it is possible to color fresh flowers at home.

To achieve it, you must complete the following tasks:

Study the literature on coloring flowers;

Get to know the experience of flower lovers on forums on the Internet

Find dyes that can change the color of flowers at home.

2. PROGRESS

The process that produces various colors in plants seems simple at first glance, but the many colors and tones that exist in nature are the result of a complex interaction of basic pigments in various combinations with the environment. They also depend on the arrangement of natural dyes in plant tissues.

In nature, the color of plants depends on the plant pigments they contain. The main flower pigments are pelargoidin (red), cyanidin (purple) and delphinidin (blue). Mixing these pigments and their related compounds at different acidity (pH) values ​​in the cells gives the whole gamut of color colors. For example, cyanidin is red in an acidic environment, purple in a neutral environment, and blue in an alkaline environment. A change in flower color is a signal to pollinators about which flowers have recently opened. In some plants, the color of the flower changes after pollination, usually due to anthocyanins, which make them less visible to insects.

Aluminum "href="/text/category/alyuminij/" rel="bookmark"> aluminum alum or ferrous sulfate, then it will turn blue, and pink from citric acid, but this will take time. The color of white-flowered varieties cannot be changed - their petals are devoid of anthocyanin.In our country house, the hydrangea does not bloom yet, but in the future I would like to try changing the color or see a bush with different flowers.

In winter, you can change the natural color of flowers cut for a bouquet of plants. We got acquainted with the course of the first experiment on the website of the Psychological Center "Adalin" in the section "Entertaining experiments in biology". For this experiment we needed:

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Experience Explanation:

Water enters the plant from the soil through the root hairs and young parts of the roots and is carried through the vessels throughout its aerial part. With moving water, minerals absorbed by the root are carried throughout the plant. The flowers that we use in the experiment are devoid of roots. However, the plant does not lose the ability to absorb water. This is possible due to the evaporation of water by the plant. The main organ of evaporation is the leaf. As a result of the loss of water in the cells of the leaves, the sucking power increases. In addition, transpiration (the process of evaporation) is involved in creating a continuous flow of water with dissolved mineral and organic compounds from the root system to the aboveground plant organs.

Plants have two types of vessels. Vessels-tubules, which are xylem, transfer water and nutrients from the bottom up - from the roots to the leaves. The nutrients formed in the leaves during photosynthesis travel from top to bottom to the roots through other vessels - the phloem. Xylem is located along the edge of the stem, and phloem is at its center. Such a system is a bit like the circulatory system of animals. The structure of this system is similar in all plants - from huge trees to a modest flower.

Damage to the vessels can kill the plant. That is why it is impossible to spoil the bark of trees, since the vessels are close to it.

We really liked being wizards, changing the creations of nature and we decided to continue the experiments. We decided to use natural dyes, those that we use to make dough, cream or glaze in cooking. The main condition is that the dye is well soluble in water.

red cabbage spices: turmeric and paprika

First of all, these are berry juices (raspberries, lingonberries, blueberries and others), which simply need to be diluted with water. To obtain a yellow dye, we dissolved turmeric in water, filtered the solution. Cooked and cooled a decoction of red cabbage, which gives a purple dye. The remaining stages of the experiment were repeated in the same way as the first time. But the results were not received even after a day. We decided that natural dyes are weaker than those prepared at the factory. From the literature, we know that herbaceous plants (carnation, gypsophila) stain more easily and faster, and plants with denser stems and tree-like ones (roses) take longer. We repeated the experience of staining with natural dyes with gypsophila, but again we did not get the expected result.

experiments with natural dyes

1. To change the color of cut flowers, dyes must be well soluble in water.

2. Dyes must be very saturated.

3. Unstable natural dyes are not suitable for these experiments.

We are currently preparing experiments with various chemicals:

If the white flowers of a rose or dahlia are dipped first in a solution of magenta and then in a solution of potash, they will acquire a beautiful blue color.

If you place a red rose or an aster in a hermetically sealed vessel with a piece of combustible sulfur lit in it, then after a few minutes the petals will turn white. After some (rather long) time in the air, the flower will again take on its previous color.

Interesting transformations in flowering plants occur under the influence of ammonia. Treated with ammonia vapor (in a hermetic vessel), blue, purple petals turn green, dark red - black, white - yellow.

LITERATURE:

1. Artamonov oracles. Moscow: Thought, 1989.

2. Naidenko "Unusual coloring of plants". Newspaper "Biology" No. 6/2010

3. My beautiful garden. A guide for little gardeners. Moscow: Astrel, 2002.

4. Science and life No. 7/2007. Article "Unprecedented coloring of flowers"

Treated with ammonia vapor (in a hermetic vessel!) Blue, violet and purple petals turn green, dark red (for example, carnation) - black, white (white lily, white rose, etc.) - yellow. Flowers with variegated color undergo especially original changes.

It is also curious that after treatment with ammonia, some flowers that do not have an aroma at all (for example, asters) acquire a pleasant smell.

Such experiments can be carried out even with whole bouquets of flowers. Since not all anthocyanins react in the same way to a change in the environment, and also because ammonia and hydrochloric acid also act on other substances (flavones, etc.), causing a color change, completely unexpected colors are obtained. In this simple way, you can give the bouquet a fancy unusual color for several hours. The subsequent slow restoration of the natural color of the flowers gives the bouquet an even more spectacular appearance.

Artamonov oracles - Moscow: Thought, 1989

Naidenko "Biology" No. 6/2010 article "Unusual coloring of plants"

My beautiful garden - Moscow, AST - Astrel, 2002

Science and Life No. 7/2007. Article "Unprecedented coloring of flowers"

Modern flower shops often offer their customers unusual flowers in blue, green, purple and other non-standard shades. In order to achieve this effect, various methods of cultivation and selection are used, but the easiest way is to use a simple instruction that clearly explains how to dye flowers at home using ordinary water and food coloring. That is what we will be talking about today.

To make the experience a success from the first time, it is best to use only white or, in extreme cases, light beige flowers, since their petals absorb color most intensively. Chrysanthemums, carnations, chamomiles, roses, gerberas, tulips, hydrangeas and dahlias are most often painted, however, in principle, a similar method of giving certain shades to the petals is suitable for any flowers.

Before you paint flowers with colored water, it is important to choose the right powder dyes, giving preference to those that can give the water a sufficiently saturated shade. To get the brightest tones, it is best to use neon dyes.

So, for coloring flowers you will need:

• any freshly cut white or light beige flowers (in this case, carnations, chrysanthemums and hydrangeas are used);
• several glass glasses;
• food liquid or powder dye of the selected shade;
• plastic spoon;
• garden shears or a sharp knife;
• warm filtered water.

It is very important to choose the freshest flowers possible so that they do not wither during such an interesting coloring experiment.

The sequence of actions should be like this:

First of all, you need to fill the glasses 2/3 with warm purified water, pour food coloring powder into them. Then mix thoroughly with a plastic spoon, ensuring that no grains and undissolved crystals remain in the water.

To facilitate the task, you can use liquid dyes, but you can not always buy them in our stores. Such dyes are suitable for both beginners and those who have long known how to dye flowers so that at home they acquire a non-standard blue, black or other similar shade.

Next, you need to remove absolutely all the leaves from the flower stalks, since they will only “take away” the paint on themselves, as a result of which the petals may not change color or change, but so slightly that it will practically not be noticeable.

Then, using a sharp knife or special garden shears, cut the stems, trying to make an angle of 45 degrees. This angled cut guarantees a constant supply of water to the stem because it does not touch the bottom of the glass, as a straight cut often can. In addition, this method of cutting the stems can significantly reduce the process of how to paint light fresh flowers, since the penetration area of ​​​​the tinted liquid increases.

If you need to speed up the time it takes for the petals to change their natural shade as much as possible, it is best to keep the stems as short as possible so that the tinted water reaches the flowers very quickly.

The next step is to place the cut flowers in glasses of prepared water. Since different plants absorb colored substances from water at different speeds and intensities, you should not put several types of flowers in one container at once.

So, carnations, chrysanthemums and hydrangeas in this case were placed in different glasses.

Some experienced flower shop owners know how to dye flowers with special colored water in such a way that they begin to change their color within a few hours. However, at home, such a quick effect cannot be achieved.

In order for flowers placed in glasses with diluted food coloring to gain the optimal amount of pigment necessary to change the shade of their petals, it takes from 24 to 48 hours. In this case, the flowers were kept in tinted water for a day, as a result of which it became noticeable that the hydrangea petals were colored most intensively.

At the last stage, the flowers must be carefully removed from the glasses with the coloring liquid, rinsed under running water and placed in a beautiful vase.

In order for the flowers to retain a presentable and very unusual appearance for as long as possible, it is better to cut their stems again before that.

For those who are looking for how to paint fresh flowers in several different shades at the same time, a very simple, but quite effective way will do.

It consists in splitting the stem below into several parts and lowering them into containers with dyes of different colors.Depending on the ability of the plant to absorb moisture, as well as the characteristics and speed of its distribution, you can get both a “seven-color flower” and an original flower, the color of the petals of which resembles a gradient or ombre.

Also, a similar effect can be obtained if successively, after about 4-8 hours, transfer the flower from a glass with one dye to a container with a dye of a completely different shade, while holding the cut of the stem with your finger.

Armed with the knowledge of how to paint any flowers at home, you can create the most unusual floral arrangements, consisting of flowers of various unusual shades.

You can also experiment by giving flowers original tones that make them look like exotic plants.

In order to give roses or carnations an unusual shade, you can paint the flowers. To do this, you can use different methods, for example, put flowers in containers with tinted water, paint them with a spray gun and create special growing conditions. As a result, you can get blue, green and even black flowers. Usually this is done by flower shops who want to attract a client, breeders or those people who like to make unusual gifts.

Even at home, you can paint any flower in any color. This can be done in many ways. For example, using colored water. This method is based on the fact that water penetrates the plants from the soil through the roots and measles hairs. From there, it spreads throughout the rest of the flower—stem, leaves, and petals. Along with water, various mineral substances also spread along the aerial part of the plant.

Although fresh flowers sold in flower shops are rootless, they also have the ability to absorb water. This process is called transpiration (evaporation of water by the plant). The main instrument of this process is the leaves of the plant, which protect them from overheating - as water is lost to the leaves, a sucking force arises, which ensures the flow of water from the root system to the aerial part to provide the entire plant with the necessary organic and mineral substances. This explains why rootless flowers stay alive for some length of time when placed in a vase of water.

Using this method, you can paint any flowers in the desired shade. The result will please you or the one for whom you are preparing such an unusual gift. You can do coloring with children - they will be interested to know why a rose or chamomile changes its color, and they will be delighted with the unusual color of the plant.

Not all flowers are suitable as a working material. Daisies, roses, carnations, tulips, chrysanthemums and dahlias lend themselves best to coloring. Brighter and more saturated color can be obtained on white and cream shades - they can be dyed in almost any color.

For coloring, we need: the flowers themselves, food coloring (you can take several colors), sharp scissors or a knife, water and a glass container (jar or vase).

1. Dilute each food coloring in a separate bowl. If there are few dyes, then you can experiment with creating new colors. For example, mixing yellow and blue will make green, and red and yellow together will make orange.
2. While the dyes dissolve, you need to cut the stems of the flowers. With a sharp knife or garden shears, cut the stem at an oblique angle. It is important not to damage the stem and skin.
3. Place one flower in each container with dyes and leave them for at least 8 hours. In general, it is believed that it takes 20 hours for full coloring - it is during this time that the dyes are completely absorbed into the petals. If the ink absorption time is reduced, a lighter shade can be obtained. The same can be achieved if the dye solution is made less saturated. The more the flower stands in tinted water and the more concentrated the solution, the brighter and more saturated the color is.
4. In order to make multi-colored petals near a flower, it is necessary to split the stem at the bottom 5-10 centimeters up and place each part of the stem in a bowl with dyes of different colors. You can also make a two-color flower in the following way - hold a rose or chamomile in one color dye for one day, and transfer it to a container with another dye the next day. Some craftsmen use variations of these methods to achieve amazing and unusual results, such as striped flowers or with a beautiful color gradient.

• Fresh flowers are best.
• If a two-color staining method is used and the flower is transferred from one container to another, then during this it is necessary to close the cut with your finger so that air does not get inside.
• When painting, it is better to lower the stem into water immediately after the cut, in which case the color is bright and intense.
• It is best to store dyed flowers at room temperature.

Other methods of dyeing flowers