TURNING WHITE FLOWERS GREEN!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

​Since today is all about green it seems like a perfect day to turn something white to something green.  (Okay, so this project will take a couple days but it’s still the perfect day to get it started!)

​Carnations are extremely popular cut flowers.  If you’ve ever been to a wedding you may have seen a bunch of the men wearing them on their jackets.  They have a leafy flower but the coolest thing about them is if you start with white ones you can change their color!

​What's Needed:

• White carnations
• Water and vase
• Green food coloring

​First of all, remove some of the leaves from the stems so the flowers are the only part of the flower receiving the water.  Leave the stems as long as possible and don’t bend them.
 
If the flowers aren’t freshly picked, you’ll want to cut about 1/2 inch from the bottom to make sure the stems can drink the water.
 
Now, add a few drops of green food coloring to the water.  (If you don’t have green, remember you can use blue and yellow to make green.) Then place the carnations into the water.  After a couple days you’ll start to see the petals change to green.  As the flowers drink the water, they absorb the food coloring which dyes the petals.  Your friends will be amazed!

​If you think about it, this is a very simple way to learn about how the stems of plants allow water to travel up and bring nutrients and water to the entire plant!