The world’s first blue roses have been unveiled in Japan following nearly two decades of scientific research.
Developed by Suntory Flowers, the roses are genetically modified and implanted with a gene that simulates the synthesis of blue pigment in pansies.
The first blue rose was created in 2004, but further research was required to make them safe to grow in nature.
The Suntory rose made its public debut at the 5th International Flower Expo Tokyo (IFEX) over the weekend; and are expected to go on sale commercially next autumn.
Blue roses have been available in florists in recent years but are created by various dying techniques to stain the petals of naturally white roses. The Suntory roses are believed to be the first genetically-modified blue rose creations [more on Telegraph]
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it looks like purple to me
Blue + red = purple. Ofcourse there are varying dgrees of this mix. If it steers more towards the blue side then people may see blue or lavender. Go the other way and some see a deep deep red.
Color is interesting stuff sometimes…it’s all in the eye of the beholder. ;)
Then again, that photo made not be entirely acurate as to the real life color.
i’ve seen a guy at my school give a girl a blue rose on valentine’s day.
it was very blue, not like the one in the picture, so i guess it was dyed.
red, purple, or blue, i think roses are no doubt a very beautiful and romantic flower.
it is purple. however, suntory is the first who made it by genetic engineering, as well as clone engineering, not by dying techniques or other trick. maybe we need to wait some more years to see it naturally growing and become close to blue than purple.
wow, the things that they do! i wonder if green is in the works? haha :)
Well, it certainly look purplish… more towards the blue-purple rather than red-purple obviously.
Quachee… ehh… that would be a bit ugly ain’t so?
Also I think they would choose to call it blue because ‘blue’ just sounds more emotional/romantic than the word ‘purple’
Remember the song “Purple people eater.” Just doesn’t sound very serious. LOL.