Today I’m sharing pictures of green flowers. These curiosities of the plant kingdom challenge our preconceptions. Green is the colour we imagine leaves and stems to be; flowers are supposed to be more showy to grab our attention.
While green flowers may seem unusual, some widely grown perennials are more often green than not, including hellebores and euphorbias.
The ‘petals’ of some green flowers are technically modified sepals or bracts, sepals making up the leafy outer layer that protect petals developing in bud (think of a rose bud).
Other flowers have long been artificially dyed green, dating back at least to Oscar Wilde’s green carnation of the early 1890s.
Many of these floral rebels go against the perceived wisdom that insects need colourful signposts to help them find nectar and pollen, although lime green can be pretty showy!
Scroll on for novelties including a more-green-than-white snowdrop, a green red hot poker and a greenish Asiatic lily (you be the judge).
I hope you’ve enjoyed these little reset buttons for anyone who thinks plants need flashy petals to make their world go around.
Aren’t they wonderful? Even when they’re not dressed to impress.
Susan Rushton 
The pictures of the flowers were beautiful. I didn’t know that there were so many types of green flowers, my favorite was the green carnation.
Thank you. I also like the carnations that are available in antique colours, which often have a touch of green mixed in.
I’ve never seen so many green flowers, Susan! Amazing. I had a green hydrangea before. Very unusual!
Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’ is the most famous green, but I thought I’d go for an ‘ordinary’ one.
Who knew there were so many? (Well you obviously). The auricula is a sweetie but I don’t like the green rose or gladiolus, nor the carnation. Everything else looks good.
Green flowers are not quite as rare as we might think. I was surprised how many I had and I didn’t include them all. I quite like the gladiolus. That particular green rose was a bit scruffy. They seem to be more variable than you’d think.
What a great idea to feature green flowers like this! It’s a reminder how many more there are than we would imagine. I especially like the Echinacea, Primula auricula and ‘greenish’ Asiatic lily 😀
I quite like the lily too, but I could imagine white lilies thinking it looked a little queasy.
😂
I have never seen so many green flowers! Beautiful gallery – and many fo them I didn’t know the name of. Thank you for enlightening us!
Some of them are unusual here, such as the cobra lilies, but I often see those little green ruffs of Sanicula epipactis now my eye is attuned to them.
I like it that this is the way it works!