Different Shades of Roses The most common rose shades are red, pink and white, but some have orange, coral, purple, yellow, green or brown flowers. Others have stripes and speckles, giving them a two-toned appearance. The two basic colors that do not occur naturally are black and blue.

Gymnosperms are plants that reproduce by means of an exposed seed. There are close to 1000 species of gymnosperms all around the globe. Since cycad ( cyca ) resembles the palm leaves, it is said to be a palm like gymnosperm.

These gymnosperms are highly diverse, however, and sometimes quite strange. The cycads, or Sago palms, look like palms but are not (palms are flowering plants). The ginkgo has distinctive, fan-shaped leaves that are sometimes cleft in the middle and, unlike the leaves of most gymnosperms, fall each autumn.

But before we come to that, let’s look at what cycads are and at their surprising biology. Sometimes called sago palms, cycads are in no way palms. Palms are flowering plants. Cycads, like pine trees and juniper bushes, are gymnosperms — “naked seed” plants.

The roses commonly called black roses are technically a very dark shade of red, purple or maroon. The color of a rose may be deepened by placing a dark rose in a vase of water mixed with black ink. Other black roses may be blackened by other methods such as burning.

In reality there are no truly black flowers – most are very dark shades of purple or red. However, a single black flower along with a gift of some sort could be a powerful romantic gesture with a hint of mystery. A pure black flower is the Holy Grail to all flower breeders.

Certain groups of perennials are especially well-known for their black foliage including Dahlia, Oxalis, Canna, Colocasia, Ophiopogon planiscapus, and Ajuga. We love to combine black foliage plants with silver foliage plants like Euphorbia, Artemisia, Brunnera, and Pulmonaria.