Blue rose

Blue roses represent the unattainable, a characteristic that has attracted botanists and collectors to for centuries. Blue roses were traditionally created by dyeing white roses, since roses lack a gene to produce delphinidin, the primary plant pigment that produces true,  blue flowers. Current methods for obtaining blue roses include dying, hybridizing, and genetic engineering.

Characteristics

 * Origin: Dyed, Hybridized, or Genetically Engineered
 * Duration: Perennial
 * Size: 5–15 centimetres long
 * Growth Rate: Average
 * Light Requirements: Partial sun/filtered sun
 * Water Requirements: Keep moist
 * Min. Temp.: high 20s
 * Flower: Spring

Background
Blue roses traditionally signify mystery or attaining the impossible. They are believed to be able to grant the owner youth or wishes. This symbolism is derived from the rose's meaning in the language of flowers common in Victorian times. And, according to a Chinese folktale, the blue rose signified hope against unattainable love (there are various versions of this story that can be found online).

Cultivation
Collectors of blue roses approach obtaining them in different ways. Some consider the dying of white roses an art form. Those that seek out the hybrid blue roses are searching for an ideal hybridization approach. Those seeking the genetically engineered flowers are most interested in the latest science has to offer. Your approach says as much about you as it does this highly-sought after ideal for collectors. It is for this reason you will see blue roses on display at establishments promoting themselves as idealistic (high end hotels or restaurants). If you are able to spot the difference between a dyed blue rose and one that is genetically engineered, then you a true blue rose collector.

Dyed Roses
While they do not exist in nature, blue roses were traditionally created by dyeing white roses, since the flower lacks the specific gene that has the ability to produce "true blue" colors. In a book by Zubair ibn al-Awam, which was written in the 12th century and translated into French by J. J. Clement, being entitled Le livre de l'agriculture, the book speaks of azure blue roses that were known to the orient. These blue roses were attained by placing a blue dye into the bark of the roots. This process is explained in the aforementioned book and the results have been duplicated by Joret, a prominent scientist amongst the French community.

Hybridization
So-called "blue roses" have been bred by conventional hybridization methods, but the results, such as "Blue Moon" are more accurately described as lilac in color.

Genetically Engineeered
However, after thirteen years of joint research by an Australian company Florigene, and Japanese company  Suntory, a blue rose was created in 2004 using  genetic engineering. The delphinidin gene was cloned from the petunia and inserted into a mauve-blend rose, the Old Garden Rose 'Cardinal de Richelieu' (a Rosa gallica). However, since the pigment cyanidin was still present, the rose was more dark burgundy than true blue. Further work on the rose using RNAi technology to depress the production of cyanidin produced a  mauve colored flower, with only trace amounts of cyanidin.

Suntory Ltd. is presently growing test batches of the genetically-modified blue roses in the United States and Australia, according to company spokesman Atsuhito Osaka, but plans to start marketing them in Japan in 2009.

The Blue Rose in Literature

 * The Blue Rose was a symbolist, impressionist influenced art movement in Tsarist Russia in the early 20th Century.
 * In the play The Glass Menagerie, the sister in the play was ill with "pleurosis" or  pleurisy as a teenager.  During a scene a former classmate tells her that he interpreted the word as "blue roses", which became his nickname for her.
 * In the book series A Song of Ice and Fire, blue roses are used to symbolise the character Lyanna Stark.
 * Peter Straub has written the Blue Rose Trilogy, consisting of Koko, Mystery, and  The Throat. Blue roses are also a key part of one of the events described in his short story "Bunny Is Good Bread", which depicts the childhood of Fielding "Fee" Bandolier, one of the characters who appears in the Blue Rose Trilogy.

Price Guide
Prices vary widely depending on whether you are in the market for dyed, hybridized, or genetically-engineered blue roses. Dyed roses are typically valued by their artistic interpretation. One can place a premium above your standard rose based on how much you enjoy the dye work. Hybridized and genetically-engineered rose prices are fairly set according to the provider.