Delphiniums, pansies and now blue roses!
The worlds first blue roses have been on display at the International Flower Expo in Tokyo and will be on sale to the public by next Autumn.
They have been genetically modified and implanted with a gene which cleverly synthesises the pigments from pansies.
It was the first time that these blue roses had been on display in public and they are attracting a lot of attention because they are really unusual.
These lovely roses were developed by an Australian based company, a subsidiary of Suntory. The company has invested the sum of 3 billion yen to create these blue roses and also blue carnations, this project has been ongoing since 1990.
Scientists for the company were the first to implant the gene that produces Delphinidin, the pigment that produces a vivid blue hue and is not normally found in roses.
It was four years ago that the very first genetically modified blue roses were produced although there was further research required in order to make them safe to grow.
Roses have been cultivated for over 5,000 years and it is said there are approximately 25,000 different species of roses. The normal colour of a rose is red, pink, white and yellow.
The blue rose is said to denote unrequited love as it symbolises a quest for the impossible. This seems to make sense!
The blue roses that you have been able to buy in florists in recent years were really only created by using dyes to stain the petals of white roses. The Suntory roses are thought to be the first true blue roses.
The blue roses were featured along with 860 exhibits which were displayed at the 5th annual IFEX. This is the largest garden trade show and flower show and was said to have attracted over 32,000 visitors over the course of one weekend.
Another great attraction included “glow in the dark” roses which have been modified to light up in the dark!
Tagged with: • blue rose • blue roses • blur roses sale • buy blue rose • buy blue roses • first true blue rose
Filed under: backyard garden • backyard gardening • gardening tips • indoor herb garden • new brunswick • vegetable garden
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
Wow, this is really a break through! Thanks for posting. My husband and I have a rose garden with old garden roses as well as hybrid teas and modern shrub roses but we have nothing that even remotely resembles a blue rose. This is truly amazing and I anticipate that this is just the beginning of more blue flowers of all kinds.