Fine roses are amazing flowers, which have captivated people with their magical beauty for thousands of years. And it seems that there are flowers of all possible colors in nature (or rather thanks to the efforts of breeders), but unfortunately this is not true.

Blue roses: fiction or reality?

For many centuries the connoisseurs of these wonderful flowers have been dreaming of blue and light blue roses, which have even become a true symbol of something unattainable and at the same time beautiful.

Still, alas, roses do not have a certain pigment delphinidin responsible for the blue color, and therefore it was impossible to breed such varieties of flowers. Nonetheless, some scientists claimed that they were able to breed these roses, but this was not true.

The closest to the blue roses were the so-called violet roses which were bred in the early 20th century in Germany, but their color was more likely closer to gray than to blue.

How the flowers are painted…

However, blue roses still existed (and exist) on the market (moreover, in large quantities), because demand always creates supply, but these were only painted white flowers. There are several ways of coloring. In the first case flowers are just painted with a spray – this method is extremely simple, and such roses are really striking, but theres one significant … It is almost impossible to get rid of the smell of paint, and it is unlikely that such a bouquet, for example left for the night in the bedroom, is able to please its owner.

According to the second method, certain dyes are added in water with flowers, and as the flowers absorb the water, they acquire the desired color, but it is very important to not or the roses may just prematurely;.

In some Dutch greenhouses special fertilizers are added to the growing flowers so that subsequently they could tolerate these supplements better. Also there is a method of painting the growing roses through the stems, to do so the coloring elements are injected into them.

Genetics that does wonders…

Yet the true blue roses appeared on the flower market quite recently – in 2004, thanks to new advances in the field of genetics. These works were started in 1990, when the Japanese company; (a major producer of whiskey) has allocated considerable financial resources to the company Florigen (Australia) for the relevant studies.

Scientists decided to take the required gene from pansies and add it to the genetic structure of roses. Four years after breeding the blue roses were recognized by a special committee dealing with genetically modified organisms, and they began to cultivate and sell them on the market.

A miracle kind

These flowers were named “SUNTORY blue rose APPLAUSE”. They became very popular, especially in Japan, where there is a real cult of them. Blue roses are mystery flowers having some unfathomable entity, and it is common practice to give them to vivid personalities, creative people, and just to all lovers of unusual and beautiful things.

And, of course, the works on their breeding are far from being complete, and every year new varieties of these amazing, as if unearthly flowers appear in the floral world.