“I am a flower gardener at heart…, and I can’t think of anything more therapeutic than spending a couple of hours in a garden,” said Betty Ford in her acceptance speech for the Golden Rose Award. Fifty years ago this April the trade association Florists’ Transworld Delivery (FTD, later known as the Retail Florists’ Association) reached out to the White House to offer Betty Ford the Golden Rose.

FTD began awarding the Golden Rose in 1960 to recognize world leaders as well as individuals who “use flowers and plants in terms of adding beauty to our daily lives.” Previous winners included Senator Margaret Chase Smith and Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. FTD wanted to give the First Lady the award as “tribute to Mrs. Ford for her leadership in the use of flowers in the White House.”

The award ceremony for the Golden Rose took place, fittingly, in the White House Rose Garden on July 2, 1975. FTD President Robert Costin said in his remarks that Mrs. Ford was their “kind of person” for her hobby as a flower gardener and also commended her use of fresh floral bouquets to welcome visitors to public areas in the White House.

The Golden Rose award itself was a “delicate vermeil long-stemmed rose on a suitably inscribed base.” Mrs. Ford also received a bouquet of 50 “Golden Wave” roses, one for each state.

In her remarks during the ceremony Mrs. Ford said of her approach to decorating the White House with fresh flowers: “The flowers that fill the White House add much to make it a living White House.”

Author: Lauren White