But a rose by any other colour? Well that’s a different kettle of fish.

Lately we have seen a few listings on the site for rose seeds that supposedly bloom outrageously coloured flowers - those being black, blue and even rainbow!

Sadly, roses of these colours can only be achieved artificially after they are grown, by using a dyeing process.

This generally results in a poor experience for buyers and was potentially misleading advertising.

“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none”

On Trade Me, buyers send sellers they have never met money for goods they have never seen, so it is important that goods listed on the site are described as accurately as possible.

If you are a seller and considered ‘in trade’, you are bound by the Fair Trading Act.

Fair Trading laws aside, even if you are just a keen gardener getting rid of some excess seeds, you still need to represent your goods accurately and trade in an appropriate manner.

We don’t feel these coloured seeds are in the spirit of the site and so we don’t allow the sale of them to be sold.

“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears”

It is worth noting that if you were thinking of bringing seeds into New Zealand the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) have some pretty strict rules around the importation of seeds for sowing. You will need to make sure you comply and have the appropriate permissions before doing so.

You can check out all the nitty-gritty here. Keep it handy, as if we have any concerns about your seeds, we may ask for the proof of your permit to import

"Why, then the world’s mine oyster”

So, if you are a horticultural graduate, a keen gardener, or just a seed enthusiast there are some things to remember:

Rainbow roses extraordinary colours don’t exist naturally and can’t be listed on the site
Always make sure you are describing your seeds accurately
If you are importing seeds make sure you are on board with the MPI requirements.

Happy growing!

Creative Commons image used courtesy of INTVGene on Flickr.

That which we call a rose by any other name ...