Fragrant roses blessed America’s soil long before European settlers. In 1670, American colonist Daniel Denton wrote of wild roses growing across the woods and fields of New York.
One of the founders of the New York Botanical Garden, the bryologist Elizabeth Britton (1858–1934) first championed the rose for the national floral emblem nearly 100 years ago. She wrote: “The Rose is the only one that is grown in all of [the states], and so I have said that if we must have a National Flower, the only one available for all is the Rose.”
Forty years ago, President Ronald Reagan’s proclamation on Nov. 20, 1986, finally announced the rose as the nation’s floral emblem. He said: “Americans have always loved the flowers with which God decorates our land. More often than any other flower, we hold the rose dear as the symbol of life and love and devotion, of beauty and eternity.”
Today, more than 20 native roses thrive throughout the country. Five states cherish the rose as their official floral emblems: the American Beauty rose (District of Columbia), the wild rose (Iowa), the rose (New York), the wild prairie rose (North Dakota), and the Oklahoma rose (Oklahoma). Many of these roses are still blooming in the Rose Garden of the U.S. Botanic Garden (USBG) in Washington.
Until Oct. 12, visitors can explore the USBG’s “America’s State Flowers: An America250 Celebration” exhibition. The exhibit includes herbarium specimens, botanical illustrations, and a display of crepe paper U.S. state flowers by botanical paper artist Emily Paluska.
Blooming Great American Rose Artists
For those unable to catch the nation’s bloom in person, myriad American artists extended the country’s rose season by capturing the rose on canvas, including George Cochran Lambdin (1830-1896) and Martin Johnson Heade (1819–1904).
Lambdin was the first American artist to specialize in rose paintings. Publishing firms popularized Lambdin’s paintings in print throughout America, such as the chromolithograph “June Morning” by L. Prang & Co.
In the last 20 years of his life, Luminist painter Heade specialized in bird and flower paintings, especially in the southeastern U.S. states. One of the flowers Heade loved to paint was the Cherokee rose in an elegant vase or on his signature velvet tablecloth.
U.S. Official State Floral Emblems
Visitors to the USBG can see the official U.S. state and territory flowers flourish throughout its grounds.
Alabama: camellia
Alaska: forget-me-nots
American Samoa: paogo
Arizona: saguaro cactus blossom
Arkansas: apple blossom
California: California poppy
Colorado: Rocky mountain columbine
Connecticut: mountain laurel
Delaware: peach blossom
District of Columbia: American Beauty rose
Florida: orange blossom
Georgia: sweetbay magnolia
Guam: puti tai nobio
Hawaii: ma‘o hau hele
Idaho: syringa
Illinois: violet
Indiana: peony
Iowa: wild rose
Kansas: sunflower
Kentucky: goldenrod
Louisiana: Southern magnolia
Maine: white pine cone and tassel
Maryland: black-eyed Susan
Massachusetts: mayflower
Michigan: apple blossom
Minnesota: pink and white lady’s slipper orchid
Mississippi: Southern magnolia
Missouri: hawthorn
Montana: bitterroot
Nebraska: goldenrod
Nevada: sagebrush
New Hampshire: purple lilac
New Jersey: violet
New Mexico: yucca
New York: rose
North Carolina: dogwood
North Dakota: wild prairie rose
Northern Mariana Islands: flores mayo
Ohio: scarlet carnation
Oklahoma: Oklahoma rose
Oregon: Oregon grape
Pennsylvania: mountain laurel
Puerto Rico: flor de maga
Rhode Island: violet
South Carolina: yellow jasmine
South Dakota: pasqueflower
Tennessee: iris
Texas: bluebonnet
Utah: sego lily
Vermont: red clover
U.S. Virgin Islands: yellow elder
Virginia: American dogwood
Washington: coast rhododendron
West Virginia: rhododendron
Wisconsin: violet
Wyoming: Indian paintbrush
The United States Botanic Garden’s exhibition ‘America’s State Flowers: An America250 Celebration’ runs through Oct. 12, 2026. To find out more, visit USBG.gov.
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