Where do Flowers get their Colours?

People love flowers precisely because of their colours. With attractive reds, yellows, oranges, pinks and even occasional blues and purples they are great for brightening up someone’s home. We started to wonder where do flowers get their colours from exactly? Why are flowers so bright and attention grabbing and why do they appear in the colours that they do? All will be explained today.

Evolution

Many colourful plants and flowers have become the attractive species we know and love today thanks to evolution. While a lot of plants spread their pollen with the help of the wind some prefer a more direct approach. Many colourful flowers gradually developed bright colours as a way to encourage insects to spread their pollen for them. This has helped plants to pass on their genes and reproduce much more effectively. This is why some flower seeds are advertised specifically for their ability to attract bees and butterflies into your garden, as their job is to spread themselves with the help of these flying friends.

Biology

Basically, the colours in individual flowers come down to pigments within them. There are many different types. Anthocyanins for instance give some plants their blue, purple or pink colour. Carotenoids make plants red, yellow or orange, while chlorophyll of course makes plants green, (which can be found in the stems). The exact colours that have developed depend on the plant’s genetic genome and also on what kind of insect it wants to attract to its petals.

Human Tinkering

Not all varieties of colourful flowers came to be on their own. Man’s hand has guided a few of the flowers towards their specific colours. Some multicoloured roses and lilies for example can be made by selectively breeding specific specimens of colours. This is not easy and may take years to achieve the perfect result but it does go to show that with patience and precision almost any coloured flower can be achieved.

So that in a nutshell is why flowers come in so many different colours. What’s your favourite colour flower? Tell us in the comments below.

FloraQueen delivers flowers in all types of colours. From bright red roses to yellow sunflowers you can find just the flowers to surprise your loved ones with on a special occasion.  Just choose from our wide catalogue of flowers and select the colours to best suit your recipient and tell us when and where you want your flowers to go. We’ll take care of the rest.