my understanding is that neither blue nor black roses exist; although the buds on erotica (to me, anyway) appear to be almost black (open to dark red), and "Umbra" (which I am ordering in the Spring), if grown in somewhat shady conditions may be somewhat close to blue-see Paul Barden's description (its developer-on this site as "Trospero" (though purple, which is what I am looking for, anyway). Also purplish-Belle de Crecy (an old gallica), Reine des Violettes (an old hybrid perpetual), tuscany superb (another old gallica) & others - but no blue.

although I also understand there will be a test marketing of blue roses (in a year or two? in Japan?).

'Rhapsody in Blue' is a currently popular "blue" rose and many people rate it the nearest to a true blue. The Helpmefind link below has photos and lots of other information about Rhapsody in Blue and the Comments and Questions tab will take you to an interesting article on the rose.

Here is a link that might be useful: RIB at Helpmefind

Trust me. The blue color shown in ads is "enhanced." You will not find a
truly blue rose because the chemical that creates it does not exist in roses.

The attempts to gene splice it into the rose appear not to be doing well.
I've seen photos of the so-called blue roses, and they don't look any
bluer to me than any of the existing lavender-toned roses.
In the right climate, 'Reine des Violettes' is still about the bluest rose in
existence.
Plant the best roses you can find for your climate, in red, white, yaller, white ...
Then plant "companion plants" that will give you a touch of blue.

Jeri

Thanks! I think I will stick to the yellow and white colors. I hope there will be truly blue roses one day! maybe some rare discovery of a blue kind? we can only hope.
~mike

From what I have read here and there over the past few years, the story goes something like this: scientists, noting the demand for blue flowers, worked to find the source of blueness in such plants as pansies and dephiniums. They identified the gene that produces the blue pigment, which only certain plants have. This was:

DISCOVERY #1 the plant must have a certain "blue" gene

Scientists worked and worked, and finally managed to learn how to splice this special gene into other plants, including roses. They did some splicing and waited for the modified roses to bloom and...the roses were not blue! They were lavender!

The scientists worked and worked, and figured out

DISCOVERY #2: the pH of the plant affects the pigment. The roses natural pH modified the pigment, rendering it lavender instead of blue.

So the scientists have gone back to work, and that's where the story is so far. Someday perhaps they'll figure it out, but not yet.

Hoovb is right there is still no blue rose only lavender and mauve but roses do have blue pigments and it will be only a matter of time til they figure out how to increase these pigments to get a blue rose.

The link for the paper is at the bottom and here is more of what it said.

"During our research for blue pigments from a large variety of roses, we found a small number of blue pigments (rosacyanin As) that mauve-type roses, such as ÂMÂme. Violet, contain and have been studying their structure.... The accumulation of rosacyanin As may be a better way to engineer blue roses than that of delphinidin, as rosacyanin As are consistently blue even when co-pigments and metal ions are absent and the vacuolar pH is low.

"In general, simple anthocyanins, mono- or diglucoside, are red or orange at low pH; however, under weakly acidic conditions, their 2-positions are easily hydrated and become colourless pseudobases. Rosacyanins are blue or violet ina wide pH range (pH 1-7).

"We have found mauve roses containing a small amount of blue pigments co-existing with a red anthocyanin and cyanidin 3,5-diglucoside, and determined that the coexistence of a small quantity of the present blue pigments (rosacyanins) is the reason that the roses look bluish. These pigments are called Ârosacyanin because of their true blue colour and they were isolated from the petals of Rosa hybrid cv.ÂMÂme. VioletÂ.

"Rosacyanins....showed a greater resistance to hydration, a greater colour expression at higher pH values and increased stability of the molecules. Rosacyanins are thought to be biosynthesised by an enzymatic cycloaddition or by a nucleophilic and electrophilic addition of cyanidin with a large amount of tellimagrandin 1 and 2 distributed in the rose petals. It is very interesting that cyanidin changed to blue by binding to tellimagrandin, although the change cannot be attributed to coexistence with tellimagrandin 1, but with pentagalloyl-glucose.32,33 The accumulation of a large amount of rosacyanins in the petals will result in a blue rose."

Thanks to Don of the RHA form for this info.

Patrick

Here is a link that might be useful: blue rose