One fun springtime activity you might enjoy (kids, especially will love this) is to take some white carnations and food color and create your own colorful bouquet. Purchase some fresh white carnations and assemble some glass containers (metal tends to react with the coloring). Egg dyes on the market will work just as well as food color, and tend to give a richer color. Mix the food color with about 8 ounces of warm water, or dissolve the egg dye as the label suggests. Take the carnation stems and submerge the bottom 2 inches under water and cut the bottom inch off with sharp scissors or knife (parents, please do this step for safety reasons). Place 2-3 carnations in each glass which now contains 8 ounces of warm water and the food or egg coloring. Put the glasses on a kitchen counter or table top and watch what happens! The water and dye will be absorbed as fast as a few hours, but more likely overnight. Much will depend on how warm the room is. You should see beautifully colored veins in the petals show the dye. As more is absorbed, the entire flower will turn color. The brightness of the color will depend much on how concentrated it is in the glass. This shows how a flower stem acts like a straw to literally pull water (and color) up the stem through the water-conducting tissue called xylem (pronounced sigh-lem). It's fun to mix the colored carnations into one vase (use a measured amount of preservative in clear warm water to display the blooms) in one vase for fresh-flower springtime fun!

- Bridget

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