Adoption of the Tennessee State Cultivated Flower

Passionflower - Tennessee's First Official Flower

On January 13, 1919, the Sixty-first General Assembly of Tennessee adopted Senate Joint Resolution No. 13. This legislation defined the mechanism by which an official state flower would be chosen. As a result of a statewide vote of Tennessee school children the passionflower was declared the official state flower of Tennessee.

Two State Flowers

Fast-forward 11 years to 1930.

In the early 1930s, flower gardening was gaining popularity in the state. Along with the increased interest in flower gardening came garden clubs and along with garden clubs came appreciation and fascination with the iris, a flower that had been cultivated for thousands of years.

The Nashville Iris Association, established in 1931, gained national and even international attention for its efforts in breeding and growing irises. Nashville became known as the Iris City.

With the growth of the garden clubs, the dissatisfaction with the passionflower as a representative of the state grew as well and the iris was promoted to become Tennessee's official state flower. Iris supporters claimed that the passionflower had never been officially adopted. Soon, the Tennessee Legislature joined in the promotion.

With Joint Resolution No. 53, approved on April 19,1933, the iris (genus Iridaceae) was adopted as the "State flower of Tennessee." The resolution read, in part

"Whereas: The State of Tennessee has never adopted a State Flower; and,

"Whereas, the Iris is one of the most beautiful and one of the most popular flowers in the State, its profusion and beauty attracting many visitors to the State, now, therefore,

"Be it resolved by the Sixty-eighth General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, the Senate and House concurring that the Iris be adopted as the state flower of Tennessee."

Adoption of the passionflower in 1919 was ignored. Joint Resolution No. 53 admitted no knowledge of the previous resolution adopting the passionflower selected by the school children of the state.

Tennessee now had two adopted state flowers.

Tennessee State Librarian and Archivist John Trotwood Moore, who had penned the poem, "Ocoee", to honor adoption of the passionflower in 1919, died in May 1929. His wife, Mary Daniel Moore, who had worked with him for many years, took over his position as State Librarian and Archivist. In a letter, dated December 4, 1933, she wrote.

"The people have been so interested, and at the same time confused, as to which really is the flower or whether or not both are not the State Flower, that I requested the Attorney General's opinion on the subject that I might be able to give an intelligent answer to the many questions that were coming to my desk from the school children, teachers, women's garden clubs, etc. His decision is that the new law repeals the former law and the Iris is now the State Flower."

War of the State Flowers

When the bill adopting the iris was publicized, there was an uproar. The passionflower, adopted 14 years earlier, in 1919, had not been forgotten. Garden clubs, botanists, and newspapers across the state all had something to say...

Iris Becomes Official Cultivated Flower

Twenty-four years passed. Then, in 1973, the issue of a state flower was brought up by State Senator Edward Blank. According to Senator Blank he was being urged to introduce the legislation to make the iris the state cultivated flower and the passionflower the state wildflower. He said, "The people of the good garden clubs across the state would like this resolved." Perhaps the most influential urging came from his mother, Mrs. Fred L. Blank, who was an active member of the Hampton Garden Club and the Tennessee Federation of Garden Clubs.

To eliminate this confusion, in 1973 the 88th General Assembly, by Chapter 16, designated the passionflower the state wildflower and the iris the state cultivated flower.

Legislation has never specified a particular variety of iris, but a variety of purple iris is usually depicted as representing the state's official cultivated flower.