Interflora Scientists Develop a Polka-Dot Rose

All photos courtesy: Interflora


They are certainly unique; however, I'm not sure what the purpose of the experiment was beyond consumer whim. It's obvious though that the experiment has succeeded after 10 years of patient, painstaking research by the scientists at Interflora's plant cultivation facility. Behold, the world's first polka-dot rose.

The flower cultivation team was headed by Professor Winston Davies - a renowned authority on micro-propagation and plant biochemistry. The team has, in effect, developed a new plant variety - the world's first white rose with pink spots.


Professor Davies said: “The polka dot rose – which looks both beautiful and, one might say, at the same time strangely unnatural – is the result of more than 10 years of research by the team at the Interflora plant cultivation facility.

“The key to unlocking this puzzle – how to engineer the plant’s DNA to produce highly regular colouration patterns in a uniform fashion we simply don’t normally see in nature – lay in using recombinant technology, in which DNA molecules from different sources were combined into one molecule to create a new set of genes.

“The result is our polka dot rose, which I think is rather pretty. My wife Annie loves it!”

The polka-dot roses came about as a result of consumer demand. Over the years, Interflora had been contacted by a significant number of clients asking about the possibility of being able to buy flowers with "artificial" patterns. These clients wanted to be able to send flowers apropos to those intrigued by a particular design; or, patterned with shapes such as hearts for Valentine's day.

Unbenownst to customers, Interflora had listened to the requests and had been diligently working (in total secrecy) to fulfill this consumer desire. Now, they are ready to show the results to the world.


At this time, there has been no finalized release date for the marketplace launch of the Interflora polka-dot rose. However, it is expected that they will be in florists' shops in the UK (United Kingdom) before the end of summer. The intention seems to be to debut this specimen within Interflora's popular Six Stolen Kisses bouquet.

The polka dot rose – which is sure to cause a stir in the fields of botany and plant cultivation – was developed amid tight security at Interflora’s Lincolnshire plant cultivation facility.

Via Interflora