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Home > Flower and garden articles > You`ll be `over the moon` with this world first release!
You`ll be `over the moon` with this world first release!
 Australian home gardeners will be the first in the world to have the opportunity to grow these unique blue/violet carnations.
We’re very excited to announce that the Florigene Moon Series™ carnations will be available to home gardeners exclusively through the Tesselaar Spring 2001 mail order catalogue (posted early August).
The distinctive carnations – Florigene Moon Shadow™, Florigene Moon Lite™, Florigene Moon Shade™ and Florigene Moon Vista™ – feature striking blue-based colouring (varying from mauve to blue/violet) that improves as the plant ages.
The Florigene Moon Series™ contains a blue gene that is new to carnations and was developed by Melbourne-based company, Florigene Ltd. Following much negotiations with Florigene, we are now delighted to be able to offer the Moon series carnation plants to home gardeners for the first time anywhere in the world.
The Moon series carnations are a plant developed through gene technology by Florigene, initially for the cut-flower market where they have now been available for a number of years. Traditional carnations couldn’t produce the blue pigment, delphinidin, and it was not possible to breed blue carnations through traditional means. Advanced gene technology developed over more than 10 years has held the key to isolating the blue gene and successfully incorporating it into other flowers.
The carnations have been investigated rigorously by authorities within Australia and overseas before being approved for commercial, and now home garden, use.
The Florigene Moon Series™ flowers are of excellent quality and, when cut, have a vase life of around 16 days. They will be available through the Tesselaar August 2001 mail-order catalogue as established plants in pots (specially packaged to handle transport) for between $9 and $12/plant plus postage and handling.
What for them in your copy of the Tesselaar catalogue. If you do not already receive a Tesselaar catalogue you can join the mailing list now.
More information
- How was the Florigene Moon Series™ developed?
Florigene Moon Series™ carnations were developed by Melbourne based company, Florigene Ltd, using gene technology. Traditionally, the shape, color, vase life or disease resistance of flowers has been improved or altered by cross-breeding. However, traditional breeding cannot achieve blue, violet or mauve flowers. Florigene researchers overcame this challenge using gene technology. In 1991, Florigene isolated the blue gene in petunias and then developed the technology to splice it into the DNA of other flowers. They went on to successfully incorporate the blue gene into the carnation genome, and the first genetically modified carnation, Florigene Moon Dust™, was made commercially available in Australia in October 1996. Since then, other carnations containing the blue gene have been produced.
- What makes the carnations blue?
The flowers’ colour is not strictly blue – they bloom in shades of violet or mauve in the blue colour spectrum, and each different colour is unique to carnations. For a flower to be blue it must contain the pigment delphinidin, and to have this pigment, plants needs to contain the blue gene. This pigment is found in the vacuole of the flower cells, and the pH in the vacuole determines how blue the pigment appears.
As other genes are also responsible for the formation of the blue pigment, many factors can affect the final colour of the flower, such as soil types and weather conditions. Other color pigments produced by the plant also affect the final color of the blue pigment.
- Are Florigene Moon Series™ Carnations environmentally safe?
Yes. Like all gene technology, these carnations have been subjected to rigorous regulatory scrutiny in Australia and overseas, and have been approved for commercial use in countries including Holland, the US and Japan. Genetically modified carnations pose no greater risk to the environment than conventionally bred varieties as:
- they are not related to any significant weed species in Australia
- some carnation varieties are infertile
- there are wild carnation populations established in Australia
- carnation pollen is not spread by wind, and bee access to the pollen is limited because the pollen is heavy and sticky and buried deep in the flower
- carnations are propagated by cuttings and do not spread by shoots, tubers, bulbs or runners, so there is minimal risk of unwanted spreading
NB: The Florigene Moon Series™ carnations cannot be sold in Tasmania as that state has imposed a ban on all genetically modified products.
- What varieties does the first release include?
The first release of flowers in the Florigene Moon Series™ is available through the August 2001 Tesselaar mail order catalogue, and features:
| Florigene Moon Shadow™ | Spray | Violet | | Florigene Moon Lite™ | Sim | Soft Mauve | | Florigene Moon Shade™ | Sim | Violet | | Florigene Moon Vista™ | Sim | Deep violet, purple |
Sim carnations are tall (up to 1.2 metres), with long flower stems and large flowers. Picola types are smaller (around 1 metre) and bushier with smaller flowers.
- When do Florigene Moon Series™ carnations flower?
The biggest flushes of flowers appear in spring and summer but carnations will flower spasmodically over winter and autumn, usually after planting. The carnations have a vase life of up to 16 days.
- What care do Florigene Moon Series™ carnations require?
The plants are frost-hardy and grow easily in cool to temperate climates. They will grow in warmer climates, but will not flower as readily during summer. They must be planted in a soil with excellent drainage -preferably in raised beds – and for best results, should receive full sun.
Plants should be spaced 30cm or more apart to ensure maximum growth. Due to their height, these carnations generally require staking. This is done by placing one stake either side of the plant, and tying string around the plant and the stakes. Fertiliser should be used to keep up the continuous bloom of flowers. Cut back annually to around 20cm from ground level – in late winter (cool climates) or autumn (warmer climates). Plants will flower again after approximately three months.
You can also visit the growing guides for more information.
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