Roses are blue, violets are ...

The Japanese company that created the world's first genetically modified blue roses said yesterday it will start selling them next year.

Suntory Ltd, also a major whisky distiller, hopes to sell several hundred thousand blue roses a year, company spokesman Kazumasa Nishizaki said.



"As its price may be a bit high, we are targeting demand for luxurious cut flowers, such as for gifts," he said. The exact price and commercial name for the blue rose have not been decided.

Suntory in 2004 unveiled the world's first genetically modified blue rose after 14 years of study which also involved Australian researchers. It created the flowers by implanting the gene that leads to the synthesis of the blue pigment Delphinidin in pansies. The pigment does not exist naturally in roses.