A rose of any other color

Roses are red, carrots are orange and blueberries are, well, blue.

But that could be changing.

The increasing sophistication of plant developers and marketers, combined with a renewed interest in growing vegetables, has brought about a kaleidoscope of new colors to our gardens and our tables.

Because of the work of plant breeders tinkering with Mother Nature, adventurous gardeners wanting to have a conversation piece, and veggie lovers rediscovering long-forgotten heirloom varieties, we can grow pink daffodils, black petunias, red carrots, white currants and blue potatoes.

Do we really want cauliflower the color of Cheez Whiz or pink blueberries in our pies?

It seems that we do -- and that we have for quite a while.

Pretty in pink

The first pink daffodil, Mrs. R.O. Backhouse, was bred in England in 1923. Since then pink daffodils, which have blush-colored cups and white petals, have been slowly gaining in popularity.

Edie Godfrey, vice president of the Daffodil Society of Minnesota, says that pink daffodils are very reliable in Minnesota gardens. (In fact, one daffodil hybridizer has developed a large-cupped pink daffodil named after Godfrey. Since 'Edie' isn't widely available yet, Godfrey recommends 'Precocious' or 'Accent' for the truest pinks.)

A true-blue rose remains the holy grail of plant breeders, but roses do show up in shades of green, buff, cocoa and lavender. However, rose specialist and nurseryman Sam Kedem, of Hastings, cautions that many of the offbeat-color roses simply aren't hardy for Minnesota.

Black and green

To gauge how Minnesotans have embraced whimsically colored plants, we posted some questions for state master gardeners on their discussion board. Here's what they said:

Black flowers are a favorite of many master gardeners, including Angie Hoffmann-Walter of Ramsey County.

"I'm a sap for the black or black-like colored novelty plants," she wrote. "I just love the black tulips, irises, violas, petunias, annual black-grass, annual potato vines, the very dark Asiatic lilies, ajuga, actaea, sambucus, and a number of heucheras. They are very fun and become a very nice contrast in the garden or planters. They usually get very many conversations going."

Kirky Otto of Hubbard County likes black flowers, "even if they're just an incredibly dark purple," she said. "They do look black from several feet away, and [they] look feisty to me, like they're challenging the world to comment on or object to their nontraditional color."

Green-flowered plants, specifically zinnias, didn't fare quite as well in our unofficial poll. Some said they weren't worth the trouble, because they tended to disappear into green foliage. However Sue Schiess of Hennepin County said that might be because the most intensely green zinnias ( including 'Queen Lime') weren't widely available here.

Incredible edibles

When it comes to vegetables, the master gardeners picked purple as the most pleasing color. Purple asparagus, pole beans, potatoes and carrots all ranked high in popularity. In addition to the lovely shade, several gardeners noted that purple beans, including 'Trionfo Violetto,' were easier to see and easier to pick. Some recommended eating purple vegetables raw because they often lose their color when cooked.

Color also plays a huge role in our perception of flavor. For example, yellow tomatoes are widely considered less acidic, though researchers from Iowa State University have concluded that the acid levels in red and yellow tomatoes are almost identical. (Yellow tomatoes do contain more sugar and, therefore, taste sweeter.)

In other scientific studies, participants describe sugar solutions as sweeter when the red color of the solution deepens. That may be why pale yellow watermelon often is described as tasting bland when compared with a slice of juicy red watermelon.

Flavor, it seems, resides in the eye of the beholder as much as the taste buds.

Rhonda Fleming Hayes is a Minneapolis-based garden writer. She blogs at www.thegardenbuzz.com.