i guess they could test the market with artificial flowers and see how well the blue roses would sell. I think after the novelty wore off there might be a few varieties that might stand the test of time. personally it wouldn't do anything for me. I would probably get tired of people commenting that they had never seen bs on hydrangeas before.lol

You know, I think I would leave that to other gardeners to explore. At this point I would not see myself going for a blue rose. Now, once they develop one, I might flip out and "have to have it", but I don't think so. Blue would be a favorite color of mine too. But I have trouble thinking outside the box as far as contexts go. I just cannot envision a beautiful blue rose. Some of the florist arrangements we receive here have these ghastly dyed briiiight blue roses, electrifying. Perhaps this experience has made me negative to the idea.

Jerome

Heh. I'd put one right between Fragrant Cloud and Tropicana.

I like crazy colors, and I love the idea of a blue roses. I think a blue rose would look a lot better than some of those hideous striped ones like oranges and lemons.

Elaine

Depends on the blue. I wonder how close to a true blue breeders can ever get. (Most breeders' efforts on purple roses seem to me to be purply reds, not true purples...)

Devon, navy would look GREAT with dark pink. What an imagination you've got!

I love blue in the garden, so I say "Bring on a true blue rose." Since I love intense colors, the intenser the blue, the happier I'd be.

It has already been done. In 2004 the biogenetics firm Florigene transfered the gene for delphinidin (the blue pigment found in flowers) production from the Pansy to the Rose genome. The scientific breakthrough resulted in lavender roses. Seems like the genetists jumped over one hurdle only to find another. Delphinidin changes color depending on cellular pH. The natural pH of the rose, which is slightly acidic, gave them the lavender. The rub is that we already have lavender roses (caused by a completely different biological process). So now they are trying to figure out how to alter the pH of the rose without killing it.

So it ain't over just yet.

BTW, the answer to your question is a resounding YES! I would buy a blue rose in a New York minute.

Patrick

Here is a link that might be useful: Florigene news release

I would not grow a pure blue rose (the kind of blue one find in FX Salvia Patens). But I do like my Rhapsody in blue roses.
They struggled the first year with BS, became better the 2. year and this year they were awesome:

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I don't know. There's a little campanula that looks like tiny blue roses and I like that. I love blue but like finding companion plants to bring that color in. Maybe not having a blue rose makes the companion plants more special.
Linda

Yes! I like blue as an accent color. Blue and purplish blues are what I'm using in my perennial bed. (You realize one could then truly have a red, white and blue rose garden???)
Cupshaped- that's an attractive rose.
BTW- I like the pics of lemons and oranges- wish that was one that would be healthy here. Brandy

Thank you all for the feedback. I for one am looking forward
to more true blue in the garden. I hope a rose is developed
that is fully double, most fragrant and cup-shaped. I hope it
starts out dark blue and slowly fades to sky-blue.

Cupshaped_roses, those are magnificent pics of Rhapsody In
Blue. A pretty lavender rose, even though in the photo's, you
can see a hint of blue, which is nice.

May it be a double rose, fragrant, cupshaped, healthy
and very very blue.

If they must, they must. To each his own. The idea of blue roses doesn't much appeal to me. My favorite roses tend to be in the pink to dark red range. Anyway, most blue flowers of any sort look lavender or grayish to me. I very rarely see a flower that looks truly blue, say cobalt or sapphire.

Rosefolly

ROSEFOLLY, that is what rose breeders are working on, creating
a rose that is a real blue color, not a lavender, that we just pretend
is blue. Thank's for your feedback though.

A rose the color of Devon's last image would be most desirable. Lets also hope that it is fragrant.

Rosefolly, try growing delphiniums. The D. elatum series has cultivars that are truely blue, from shimmering sky blue to rich royal blue.

A good book to read is THE BLUE ROSE by Anthony Eglin. Delightful mystery with lots of inside dirt into the world of roses and the crazy rosarians that inhabit it.

Image Tivoli Rose at the Roses and Delphiniums thread.
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Here is a link that might be useful: THE BLUE ROSE at Amazon.com

I would certainly like to see the blue rose before I ordered one. I should think that it would be rather interesting. Have you thought about the blue lisianthus that are double rather than just single or the double blue platycodons? They look rather desirable to me also along with blue campanulas, hydrangeas, and other assorted blue flowers.

I love blues in the garden but I am not crazy about the idea of a "true" blue rose; somehow it hits me as very artificial. I would not buy it as I am not interested in red delphiniums either though I love delphiniums and most of all the blue ones.

I'd buy a blue rose. I have one of every other color roses in my garden so of course I'd have to get a blue one. I'd really like if they managed to get a really good purple out of it that doesn't look red or pink half the time. I'd be much more excited about the perfect grape koolaid purple rose than a plain american-flag blue. Rhapsody in Blue is as close as I've seen. I wish mine would bloom a bit more though. I hope it looks more like cupshaped_roses picture next year.

I should add that I'm one of those crazy people that like Oranges and Lemons.

PATRICK, thank you for that beautiful pic and the link
for the book "The Blue Rose". I will get it and enjoy it,
I'm sure.

A SILVER BLUE

Silver blue, saying good-bye to no-one,
Nearing the time, when the rose is undone,
Looking for blue, come the spring again,
Gardens will wait, like a kind best friend.

Nope,

not for me, all I can think of are those terribly over hybridized shockingly blue primroses, that are in my opinion, ugly things, compared to the loveliness of the wild fragrant yellow form that graces the English countryside in spring.

I would be much more interested in a fragrant chalice shaped lavender rose, that's very healthy, and blessed with pretty dark green leaves, that never needs spraying and doesn't turn red or violet in a hot climate.

Luxrosa.

Since I am primarily interested in OGRs, I would not be interested in a modern blue rose. I use delphiniums, salvias, nepetas, scabiosa and other perennials to lend a blue accent to my roses. Of course, one should never say never...

For me...I think it would look as if that part of my garden had been turned to a black and white image. Its just that we expect our roses to come in various shades and blue would seem so artificial I would think that it would look like a silk flower close up and black and white when viewed from a distance...as if the color had been stripped from the rose.

Maybe I am just programmed poorly. LOL

Ronda

THANK YOU ALL, FOR GETTING ROMANTIC WITH ALL THINGS
BLUE.

ANITA22, just wanted to say thank you for the nice words
and I'm with you on it being a rich, deep true blue color.

Molineux, I do agree that some delphiniums can be a true blue. So can a few other flowers, but the true blue ones are rare. Most of the flowers others describe as blue don't really look very blue to me at all.

R