7 April 1964: Official Tree and Flower for Athens Approved

On this day in 1964, the Athens City Council unanimously voted to make the Iris the city's official flower and the Ginkgo the city's official tree. The motion was passed after "councilmen pushed aside the rules of procedure and acted on a letter from the Athens Garden Club."

Also on the agenda that night, the Council approved a 90-day trial of 2-hour limits on parking meters downtown, changed the city code so the police chief could issue a written permit to citizens older than 21 to shoot pest animals on their property, and scheduled a new zoning meeting for April 29th.

Both irises and ginkgo trees are low-maintenance and easy to grow plants. Irises often spread on their own, like full sun, can tolerate poor soil, and are rarely afflicted by diseases. Ginkgo trees are extremely hardy and do not reach maturity for 25-30 years; the oldest on record reached 3,500 years of age. They are considered "living fossils," which means they are "similar or even identical to" trees from the fossil record dating 190 million years ago. Ginkgos can survive a variety of stressful growing conditions, including pollution and confined root space, which makes them a popular choice for urban planting.

Learn More:

• Athens Banner-Herald. April, 1964 - June 16, 1964 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• The Ladies' Garden Club, Athens, Georgia, organized 1891: America's First Garden Club in the Heritage collection.
• Shading Our Cities: A Resource Guide for Urban and Community Forests by Gary Moll in the general collection.
• Trees, Shrubs, and Lawns by Don Hastings in the general collection.
• Discovering Trees by Jill Bailey in the children's collection.
• The Garden Trees Handbook: A Complete Guide to Choosing, Planting, and Caring for Garden Trees by Alan R. Toogood in the general collection.
• A Southern Garden: A Handbook for the Middle South by Elizabeth Lawrence in the Heritage and general collections.
• Bulletproof Flowers for the South by Jim W. Wilson in the general collection.
• The Bountiful Flower Garden: Growing and Sharing Cut Flowers in the South by Neil G. Odenwald in the general collection.
• Garden Flower Folklore by Laura C. Martin the Reference and general collections.
• The American Iris Society website.
• Ginkgo biloba L. on the Encyclopedia of Life web site.