Curator's Blog

Making Bi-coloured Flowers
Published on 24 May 2021

In previous blog post we talked about how to make flower dyes by extracting the pigments from flowers. This time we do just the opposite and demonstrate how to dye a flower with different colours. Following the steps below and let's make a bi-coloured flower together.

1. Add red dye to one container and blue dye to another.
2. Slice the stem of pale coloured flowers – such as roses or carnations – in half lengthwise.
3. Place one half in each of the containers of dyed water.
4. Bi-colour will appear within half a day.


How it works:
1. The dye and water enters the xylem in the flower's stem.
2. The xylem – which acts like a water pipe – transports water throughout the plant.
3. The dyes reach different parts of the petals, creating a bi-coloured effect.