Where, Oh Where Are the Blue Roses?

Yellow. White. Red. Orange. Pink. Purple. Lavender.

What do all of these have in common, other than being colors?

Yes, they're all colors that roses come in! Roses come in a very, very wide range of colors, from pure white, such as JFK, to the deepest red that's almost black, such as Ink Spots.  There are soft pastel colors that show off in Queen Elizabeth and creamy colors that are exhibited in Marilyn Monroe.  And don't forget the bold, exciting colors available, such as the ones in Charisma, or striped or mottled roses, such as Oranges and Lemons!

JFK Ink Spots

Queen Elizabeth Marilyn Monroe

Charisma Oranges and Lemons

There's a whole range of colors to satisfy the pickiest person.

There is an exception:  the color blue. Azul. Blau. Bleu. As many ways as there are to say the word "blue," as many different shades of blue as there are, from slate to midnight, this remains a spectrum that is not attainable in roses. What is the reason?

Rose colors are controlled by their DNA plus the acidity of their petals. Roses are missing the essential pigmentation for the color blue, delphinidin, which can be found in violas, petunias, and various other flowers. Also, because roses are somewhat more acid-loving than other plants, the pigmentation cannot develop naturally. There are "mauve" roses that have the name "blue" in them, but they actually are not "blue" roses, but rather a shade of pink.

Blue Bajou Outta the Blue

Blue Girl Singin' the Blues

That is also the reason that hydrangeas can exhibit different colors, from pink (alkaline) to blue (acid). You can plant a hydrangea in pH neutral soil, add either an alkaline or acid mix to it, and actually change the color of the flowers! Unfortunately, it's not that easy with roses.

There are unscrupulous companies out there that will sell you blue rose "seeds" on Amazon, eBay, and other places (http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Rose-Seeds-5/dp/B0057CRTPA/ref=cm...). Please realize that these are NOT going to grow into blue roses. That's impossible as there is no such thing. There is also a company in Japan (http://www.suntory.com/news/2011/11186.html) that is genetically modifying roses with DNA from a pansy to inject the delphinidin, but the result isn't a "blue," but more of a mauve that is no more blue than a conventionally bred rose. For instance, compare their 'Applause' with my 'Blue Bajou' 

Personally, I think my Blue Bajou is more blue than their Applause is, and it is not genetically modified with foreign DNA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Blue_Rose_APPLAUSE.jpg  ). There's also a company in Australia (Florigene http://www.florigene.com/research/research.php), which is working on developing a blue rose, and they seem to be doing quite well with the carnation series. Both Florigene & Suntory hold the patents on injecting the necessary delphinidin into roses to create the blue genetics, but Florigene's "blue carnations" seem to be very, very purple and not blue at all.

As beautiful as they have the potential to be, blue roses are still an impossibility in today's world. Maybe one day our scientists will be able to create a blue rose naturally, but until that time, we'll just have to enjoy the wonderful myriad of natural colors for roses.

(All photos inserted here are from my garden here in Colorado.  Not one picture has been Photoshopped in any way other than resizing. The color shown is the true color of the rose.)