Why do flowers have colors?
The short answer
Flower colors can help signal a flower to pollinators and can also protect plant tissues from light.
How it works
Pigments such as anthocyanins and carotenoids create many flower colors. Different animals see different wavelengths, so some flowers also use ultraviolet patterns to guide pollinators.
A familiar example
A flower may change color as it opens, and its petals may fade after pollination when attracting visitors is less important.