Artist, Helen Hornberger, revived the techniques of French tole to create naturalistic representations of the state flowers. The artist used thin copper sheets as her base, and painted them with oil paint in the natural colors of the blossoms and leaves of the Apple Blossom (Pyrus coronaria). Five pale pink and white blossoms are composed of five petals surrounding the yellow, curly stamen. They attach to the branch with slender stems of the same brown color along with five green leaves with serrated edges.
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The Congress of Representative Women at the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago proposed that each U.S. state and territory select a flower to represent their state in the “National Garland of Flowers.” This resulted in the National Floral Emblem Society. Each state has adopted to represent the state and its people based on their importance to the state’s history, economy, folklore, or native varieties. Tole artist Helen Hornberger created each artificial flower representing each state to create for a bouquet displaying America’s floral diversity.
ARKANSAS: The Apple Blossom (Pyrus coronaria) was designated the official state flower of Arkansas in 1901. At the time it was chosen, Arkansas was one of the largest apple producers in the United States. The apple was celebrated at the annual Arkansas Apple Festival and an Apple Blossom Festival including colorful parade floats and the coronation of an Apple Queen was organized to promote tourism to the region. Until 1927, the flowering Apple Blossom dominated the state’s agriculture and landscape, however, that year the state’s apple crop was largely destroyed by disease and severe frost. Apple production plummeted in Arkansas and never recovered. Despite the fact that apples no longer dominate the states agriculture, the state flower announces it presence each year when it blooms in April and May. Apple Blossoms arrive in delicate clusters of pink and white, releasing their honeysuckle aroma, which encourages the bees to pollinate them. Once the Arkansas state flowers are pollinated, they grow into mature apples by late summer, though this variety is largely ornamental and not meant to be eaten.
