Flower shops are flocking to a wholesale market in Tokyo’s Itabashi-ku to buy colorful “rainbow roses,” which are proving popular Christmas gifts.

Rainbow roses were developed in the Netherlands and the petals are made up of pink, blue, green, yellow and other colors. How the trendy roses were developed remains a secret, industry workers said. Trading houses in Tokyo and Chiba Prefecture have been importing the rainbow roses.

“Orders have been increasing before Christmas,” a president of a flower shop said. “They are popular as gifts because they are rare and look great.”

One bunch of rainbow roses sells for about 1,000 yen at retail flower shops.

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By Sun Tzu on 17-12-2006