Guides

Why are some guides bad ?

Because they are based on color, which makes them inaccurate and unreliable.

Breeding is determined by genes, not by colors. Most flowers exist in multiple different versions, which can lead to very different outcomes. Take a look at this infamous breeding combination found in a lot of bad guides.

Parent A Parent B Offspring
LM
Purple Mum
LM
Purple Mum
GM
Green Mum

This combination will never work if you use purple mums with the genes 002, which come from white mums. If you happen to use the wrong purple mums, you will never get a green mum, even in a thousand years. Bad guides are full of such wrong color combinations. Color combinations which work anytime regardless of genes are actually extremely few.

Is this breeding guide good ?

Does it mention genes ? If it does, it’s likely good. If it doesn’t, it’s likely bad.

Is the Official Companion Guide’s breeding guide good ?

No. It’s actually very bad.

But this breeding guide worked for me !

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

You unknowingly used flowers which had the right genes, and it worked for you. Other people may unknowingly use flowers which have wrong genes, and it will never work for them.

Guides which work only for specific people in specific conditions are bad guides.

I bred a flower in a way not listed in a good guide !

Listing every possible breeding combination is not the point of guides.

There are 11,664 possible breeding combinations, and most of them have multiple possible outcomes. Listing everything would be highly unreadable and unpractical. Good guides only focus on simple combinations, effective combinations, or a balance of both.

If you want to see the results of a particular combination, use the Breeding Simulator.

Species

How many flower species are there ?

There are 8 different flower species, not including Lily of the Valley.

How many flower colors are there ?

There are 10 different flower colors, but every species has only a subset of available colors.

How many flower phenotypes are there ?

There are 53 different flower phenotypes in total, not including Lily of the Valley

How many flower genotypes are there ?

There are 270 different flower genotypes in total.

Reproduction

How to get hybrids ?

If you want non-base flowers, follow the simple guide.

I got this flower from breeding, is this normal ?

Yes, most likely. If you have a doubt, check the Breeding Simulator.

Can this flower clone ?

All flowers can clone except for gold rose and lily of the valley.

Does moving a flower affects reproduction rates ?

Yes. Digging up a flower will clear both its water counter and visitor counter, which means its reproduction chance will be reset to the base 5%.

Watering

Do I need to water my flowers ?

If you want them to reproduce and they are not sparkling, yes. Else, no.

Does x count as visitor watering ?

Only watering from visitors count as visitor watering.

Visitors are people from other islands who visit your island.

  • Your island’s residents are not visiting.
  • Your island’s villagers are not visiting.
  • Rain and snow are not people.

Gold Rose

How to get a gold rose ?

Have a black rose directly watered by a golden watering can.

The golden watering can waters a three-by-three area, and if a black rose is on the center tile of that area, it will receive a hidden attribute called the gold flag. When a black rose with the gold flag reproduces, it will have 50% chance of consuming its gold flag to produce a gold rose instead of regular offspring.

A black rose will keep its gold flag until producing a gold rose, even when moved or given to another player.

Does a black rose have to breed in order to produce a gold rose ?

No.

When a black rose with the gold flag reproduces, it will have 50% chance of consuming its gold flag to produce a gold rose instead of regular offspring, regardless of the reproduction mode (cloning or breeding).

Can gold roses clone ?

No.

Can regular watering cans or rain produce gold roses ?

No.

If you get a gold rose from a black rose watered by a regular can or by rain, it’s because that black rose already had the gold flag in the first place, which means it had been watered by a golden watering can previously, either by you or by another player. The regular water from regular watering can or rain only triggered the roll for reproduction.

Lily of the Valley

What is lily of the valley ?

Lily of the valley is a special flower.

It cannot reproduce, plucked or trampled, and has no known effect.

How to get a lily of the valley ?

Have your island reach a five-star rating and wait.

As long as your island has a five-star rating, lilies of the valley will have a chance to spawn in front of your island’s cliffs during the daily refresh.

Can lilies of the valley breed / clone ?

No.

Does lily of the valley have any special effect ?

Not as far as we know.