Japanese rose growers have achieved the unattainable, and they’re not shy about proclaiming their brilliance and good fortune. The ‘blue rose’ (yes, it looks mauve or purple to us also) will be for sale in both the US and Canada this fall, writes Wired.

Named ‘Applause’, the rose has been genetically modified to synthesize delphinidin, a pigment that’s found in most blue flowers. Researchers at the Suntory laboratory have worked for 20 years on ‘Applause’ which was first released in Tokyo in 2009.

Because they have eluded the best of rose growers for centuries, blue roses have a near mythic quality that’s associated with unrequited love or a quest for the impossible. As is so often the case in life, the solution to breeding a spectacular blue rose was an unassuming, delphinidin-producing gene from a simple pansy. 

The pansy’s genetic pedigree became a true Cinderella story, when she hooked up with an Old Garden ‘Cadinal de Richelieu’ rose. After its Japan debut, ‘Applause’ sold for ten times the price of an ordinary rose.

Perk up girls; most of us won’t be able to afford the blue rose anyway.