Gold Roses in Animal Crossing: How To Grow & Use

Getting Gold Roses in Animal Crossing: New Horizons requires a lot of patience, as acquiring them is not easy and can take a bit of time. Players will need to increase their island’s rating, dabble with Animal Crossing’s flower cross-breeding, and even have a specific watering can. However, accomplishing all the prerequisite goals is the only way to get the process of getting Golden Roses – which sell for 1000 bells each – started.

Gold Roses do not occur naturally in the game and must be bred by players. Getting Gold Roses onto an island is a multi-step process that may take players a month or more to complete, depending on their play style. The payoff, however, is in creating a wealthy aesthetic on a home island and having a stable source of income. Honestly, just getting to the point where you are growing Gold Roses in Animal Crossing is satisfying enough in itself.

Animal Crossing Gold Rose Crossbreeding Steps

All flowers in Animal Crossing: New Horizons are coded with complex DNA patterns, and though only a few colors of each flower occur naturally all over the player’s island and other islands in the game, flowers can be bred in many additional colors. Roses begin in red, yellow, or white varieties, but they can also be bred to produce purple, orange, pink, black, blue, and gold offspring. Animal Crossing’s Gold Roses come from Black Roses, so players need to breed Black Roses first.

To cross-breed Roses in Animal Crossing, players should first determine whether Roses can be grown on their island in the first place! If Roses do not grow naturally on a player’s island, Nook’s Cranny will also not be able to provide Rose seeds to plant. Players will need to have friends send them seeds or purchase them from other islands to start ACNH’s Gold Rose breeding process.

If Roses do exist natively on a player’s island, the player should purchase Red Rose seeds from Nook’s Cranny when they are available. Flower seeds available will vary each day, so players should check back often to find them. Players may be able to simply transplant Red Roses from elsewhere on the island, but there is a chance these Red Roses in ACNH have cross-bred DNA from natural pollination, so they may not produce as many Black Roses, if they produce any at all. Because of this, buying Animal Crossing flower seeds is always recommended when beginning a breed cycle.

Players will need to plant the Red Roses in a crisscross (checkerboard) pattern, leaving a single space between each plant where the offspring will grow. This initiates crossbreeding, and flowers must be planted this way for crossbreeding to occur. Apart from a checkerboard layout, players can also use a nine square, a 5X45, or other combinations if they have enough flowers. However, players must keep in mind that there is one empty spot around the breeding flowers and efficiently track the cross-breeding process. Check out the video above from King Ryrex on YouTube to see just exactly how to get Black Roses in Animal Crossing properly.

Players must remember to water their Red Roses to allow them to grow and produce offspring. It is possible players can increase their chances of new flowers growing by having their friends visit the island and water their plants. Either way, within three days or so, flowers should begin to grow and cross-breed. Once a player has two or more Black Roses, they should replant them next to one another to increase the chances more Black Roses will grow and to allow the Red Roses space to continue cross-breeding.

Remember: The more Black Roses you have, the more Gold Roses you can grow in ACNH!

ACNH Gold Roses Need a Gold Watering Can

While Black Roses will eventually need to cross-breed to grow Animal Crossing’s Gold Roses, this process will not happen without a Golden Watering Can. Players earn the Golden Watering Can in ACNH by increasing their island’s rating to five stars. Star ratings depend upon the decoration and overall aesthetic and build of the island, so it is beneficial for players to spend time improving their landscape, forests, and neighbor’s houses in addition to their own homes. Player will also need to have ten individual villagers living on their island, and have enough fencing, flowers, and trees to get the ACNH’s 5-star rating. Players will need to maintain the 5-star rating for the next 15 days.

Players earn special perks at each rating level rating, including the Island Designer Terraforming App and the chance to get performances by K.K. Slider. At five stars, Isabelle will reward players the DIY recipe for a Golden Watering Can. This item must be crafted and requires a Watering Can and a Gold Nugget. For anyone struggling with reaching a 5-star island rating in ACNH, check out the video below from koramora on YouTube:

Players should note that using a Golden Watering Can does not guarantee Gold Roses every time. Because Animal Crossing implements a complex DNA system for flower breeding, it may take a few tries before players grow their first Gold Rose. However, with patience, consistency, and luck, players should be able to make Animal Crossing’s Gold Roses before long.

Harvesting Golden Roses in Animal Crossing

For the final step to get Animal Crossing’s gold flowers, players will need to move their cross-bred Black Roses into the same checkerboard pattern as before, with a single space between each. They will then need to water the Black Roses using the Golden Watering Can. If the player is lucky, as early as the next day, they should see golden buds begin to grow in the spaces. Within a few more days, those buds will open into Gold Roses.

ACNH’s Gold Roses sell for 1000 bells each, but because they are so difficult to grow, some players don’t want to use them to make money in the game. Others may choose to create an entire farm for Gold Roses that can be sold when the player needs some fast cash. For those who don’t want to sell, Gold Roses can be placed around the island to improve the landscape of outdoor areas. They can also be used as hair accessories. Finally, they can be placed inside or outside a player’s home for decoration and bragging rights, as it is considered a status symbol in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

• Animal Crossing New Horizons

  Franchise: Animal Crossing

  Platform: Nintendo Switch

  Released: 2020-03-20

  Developer: Nintendo EPD

  Publisher: Nintendo

  Genre: Simulation

  Multiplayer: Nintendo

  ESRB: E

  Expansions: Animal Crossing: New Horizons — Happy Home Paradise

  How Long To Beat: 68-600 hours

  Platforms: Nintendo Switch

  Expansion Packs : Animal Crossing: New Horizons- Happy Home Paradise

  Prequel: Animal Crossing: New Leaf