Can you decide what color a flower should be? Flowers “drink” water through their roots and nourish their petals. After a flower has been cut, the water in a vase feeds the petals. You can “feed” your flower colored water and watch it change color!
What you need:
- White flower, such as a daisy, carnation or mum
- Food color
- Water
- Vase or glass
What you do:
- Make a fresh cut at the bottom of the flower stem.
- Add food coloring to the water in a vase.
- Place your flower’s stem into the colored water.
Watch what happens! You can see exactly where the water goes first by observing the pattern of color as it emerges in the petals.
Want more? Experiment and discover…
Want to get a little crazy? Try splitting the stem up the middle and putting each half in a different color water.
What happens if you change the water color after a couple hours? Try changing the color of the water and see if blue water first then red water makes a purple flower. Or will it make a striped flower?
