Flowering plants, with their breathtaking array of colors, grace our fields and gardens, adding a touch of beauty to our ecosystems. Over the past 130 million years, their evolution has made them an essential part of the food chain.

There are approximately 300,000 flowering plants, and scientists estimate that 85 percent rely on insects, birds, or bats to reproduce. These pollinators play a fascinating role in the life of a flower, often seeking out flowers by their unique colors. A hummingbird, for example, may hone in on red flowers. A nectarine bat will seek out pale, night-blooming flowers that glow in the moonlight. Bees are attracted to “bee’s purple,” a color that combines yellow and ultraviolet light and is outside the range of human vision. 

Flowers are different colors because they contain various pigments, like anthocyanins and carotenoids, which are produced by their genes and selectively absorb specific wavelengths of light while reflecting others, creating the visible color we see; this diversity in pigment types and concentrations allows for a wide range of flower colors, primarily evolved to attract specific pollinators. Generally speaking, the fewer the pigments, the lighter the color. 

Like humans, flowers inherit their appearance from genes. Pigments are “born” into these plants, producing a range of colors across the spectrum. But flowers aren’t just colorful for the sake of it – they need their color for survival, a fact that often goes unnoticed.

Whirly Twirly Studios created this glorious rainbow image of colorful flowers. We thought it would make the perfect puzzle to tide you over the winter until flowers bloom again in your garden.

The perfect gift for wooden jigsaw puzzlers, and flower and garden lovers, this traditional adult wooden jigsaw puzzle can be done time and again. Our wooden jigsaw puzzle artists have included many whimsy wooden jigsaw puzzle pieces that match the subject of the photograph, and we have integrated them in ways that will delight and surprise you as you put the wooden jigsaw puzzle together.