Among the flowers suggested as candidates for Washington State were the dogwood (now British Columbia’s official flower), Oregon Grape (Oregon’s state flower), syringa (Idaho’s state flower), gaillardia, wild rose, marguerite, and Washington holly. The Spokane Times supported the fleur-de-lis, or stylized lily.
But two flowers led the pack. The clover was endorsed by Bellingham resident Mrs. Ella Higginson, poet laureate of Washington. Mrs. Alsora Hayner Fry nominated the rhododendron in a letter to the editor of a newspaper. She lauded its “wild profusion, great beauty and its evergreen leaf, which goes with the Evergreen State.”
Clover fans ridiculed the rhododendron as a California import. Mrs. Fry replied that it’s indigenous to Washington. She said it was the clover that was introduced by the Hudson’s Bay Company as cattle forage.
A Floral Election
The state flower, it was decided, would be chosen in an election open only to women. Ballots were distributed in post offices, drugstores, hotels, and other public business places.
Fifteen thousand ballots were counted, fifty-three percent favoring the rhododendron. The vote had been marred by dirty campaigning. But Mrs. Higginson was gracious in defeat, writing a sonnet honoring the rhododendron.
The senate confirmed the new floral emblem on February 10, 1893. But it wasn’t until February 10, 1949 that both houses of the legislature made it official. In 1959, the law was amended to specify the native Pacific rhododendron (Rhododendron macrophyllum). The name means “rose tree with large leaves.”
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism - 
