Flower Coloring Pages

Petals Can Look Very Different

Flowers do not all have the same kind of petals. Roses have many petals that overlap and form a layered bloom. Carnations also have layered flowers, but their petal edges look more ruffled.

Tulips have smoother, cup-shaped blooms. Daisies have simple petals spreading outward around a round center. Looking at these shapes can help you decide how to color each flower.

Big Flower Heads and Tiny Florets

A sunflower may look like one enormous flower, but its large center contains many tiny flowers packed closely together.

Hydrangeas also show how small flowers can gather together. Their rounded flower clusters are made of many smaller florets.

Flowers Can Grow on Different Plants

Some flowers grow on soft, upright herbaceous stems. Daisies, daffodils and tulips rise from the ground on stems surrounded by leaves.

Roses and hibiscus can grow on woody flowering shrubs. Magnolia flowers appear on the branches of trees. The plant around a flower is part of its shape and story too.

A Lotus Grows with Water

Lotus plants are aquatic plants. Their stems grow from below the water, while flowers and broad leaves can rise to or above the surface.

A lotus coloring page looks different from a daisy in a field or a magnolia on a tree branch because the surrounding water is part of the plant's natural growing place.

Look at a Dandelion's Leaves

Dandelions grow from a low group of leaves near the ground. This arrangement is called a basal rosette.

The leaves have noticeable toothed edges, and slender flower stems rise above them. The word dandelion comes from words connected with the idea of a lion's tooth, referring to the shape of the leaves.

Flowers Along a Spike

Tuberose flowers do not form one large round bloom. Several tubular flowers grow along a tall upright flowering spike.

This creates a very different coloring shape from a sunflower or rose. Look at how the smaller flowers are arranged along the stem.

Orchids Have Distinctive Shapes

Orchid flowers can have broad petals and a distinctive central part often called the lip. Their flower shapes can look quite different from simple daisies or cup-shaped tulips.

Buds and open flowers may appear along the same flowering stem, giving you several different shapes to notice and color.

A Flower That Looks Like a Bird

The bird of paradise flower has a striking pointed shape. Its unusual flower structure can remind people of a colorful bird.

This is a fun example of how flower names sometimes come from the shapes and ideas people notice when they look closely at a plant.

Choose Your Own Flower Colors

You can use colors found in real flowers or invent a completely new garden. Try a blue sunflower, a rainbow rose or a purple daffodil.

Notice the petals, flower centers, leaves and stems, then turn every bloom into your own colorful creation.