中国网站品牌栏目（频道）
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Bloomin' marvellous: Rainbow roses are non-artificial flowers also known as the happy rose. It uses a groundbreaking process where vibrant coloured plant extracts are injected into the stem.(Agencies) |
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Red ones mean passion and romance, yellow ones speak of friendship, and pink can express your thanks. If you're feeling a little confused - or you want to keep a lady guessing - you could try sending these roses instead. The multi-colored flowers, known as rainbow roses or happy roses, are the latest thing in quirky gifts. They start life as cream roses, but the heads take on hues from various food dyes placed in their water one at a time and sucked up the stems. We know the process takes between 12 and 24 hours, but not how the different petals turn out different colors. That remains a trade secret of their creator, Dutch florist Peter van de Werken, who branched out from creating brightly colored chrysanthemums. He buys long-stemmed Vendela roses, dyes them and distributes them around the world. They still have their sweet smell and the flowers will last as long as normal roses, but the leaves may wither sooner. More than a million were sold in a year, with key markets in Japan, Italy and particularly Sweden, where blue and yellow varieties mimic the national flag. Britons can buy them at online florist Interrose.co.uk. However, they do not come cheap. One stem costs £24.49 and a dozen £64.87, more than double the price of 12 red roses. So maybe they do send a simple message after all - you're worth it. (Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a journalist at the China Daily Web site.) (Agencies) |
红玫瑰代表热情和浪漫，黄玫瑰象征友谊，粉玫瑰则表达谢意。 如果你拿不定主意，或者想让一位女士猜猜你的心思，那么不妨试试彩虹玫瑰。 这种彩色的玫瑰花被称为彩虹玫瑰或幸福玫瑰，是最新出现的一种奇特的礼物品种。 彩虹玫瑰由白玫瑰变化而来，具体过程就是让白玫瑰的茎部分次吸收培育水中不同颜色的食用色素，然后传送到花瓣上。 这一过程耗时12至24小时，但不同的花瓣如何呈现出不同的颜色，就不得而知了。 这是发明者、荷兰花商彼得•范德威尔肯的商业机密。在培育出彩虹玫瑰之前，他还曾培育出了彩色的菊花。 威尔肯先买来长茎芬德拉玫瑰，将其染色，之后分销到世界各地。彩虹玫瑰仍带有香甜的气味，花期和普通玫瑰一样长，但叶子可能会很快掉落。 彩虹玫瑰一年的销量达100多万支，主要销往日本、意大利和瑞典。其中以瑞典最为突出，销往该国的品种蓝黄相间，酷似瑞典国旗。现在英国人可通过在线售花网站Interrose.co.uk购买彩虹玫瑰。 但彩虹玫瑰售价不菲，单支售价为24.49英镑，12支售价64.87英镑，是同等数量红玫瑰售价的两倍多。 所以也许它们的确传达了这样一个简单的信息：你值得拥有。 相关阅读 （中国日报网英语点津 Julie 编辑蔡姗姗） |
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Vocabulary: head：any dense flower cluster or inflorescence（茎梗顶端的叶球，头状花序） food dye：any substance that is added to food or drink to change its color（食用染料，食用色素） branch out：to expand or extend, as business activities, pursuits, interests, etc.（涉足新工作，拓展新业务） |
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