Lincoln and flowers

[Eva Elisabeth]

Thank you Eva. That pretty much answers my question.

Best
Rob

And yet, Mr Lincoln is supposed to have said:

“Die when I may, I want it said of me by those who knew me best, that I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow.”

― Abraham Lincoln
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A web-site called Answers has the following, unsupported best guess:

Did Abraham Lincoln have a favorite flower?
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August 06, 2009 9:10PM

He loved tulips.
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I have no information for any affinity for tulips by Mr Lincoln. Eva's post seems pretty conclusive, but I thought I'd mention those 2 things anyway.

If the thistle quote attributed to Lincoln is proven, I don't think he was actually referring to a flower, except as a metaphor. Perhaps the thistle is an errant thought and the flower a productive thought that might blossom. If so, then Mr Lincoln's favorite flower might reasonably be a useful thought.

I doubt he had seen many tulips prior to his presidency (and not that much time during his presidency). I was wondering when at all the tulip spread in the US - well, Jefferson obviously grew some, but I doubt many people in the US got to see tulips in the first half of the 19th century.
http://www.highplainsgardening.com/tulip...ulbmasters