Can You Pick the Coast Rhododendron (the Washington State Flower)?

Our state's flower is the Coast Rhododendron or the rhododendron macrophyllum you can call it if you want to prove how articulate you are. They grow wild around the Puget Sound area but are you allow to pick them for yourself? Here's what we found out.

The short answer is no.

From ProFlowers.com:

In 1959, the state legislature officially sanctioned the flowering evergreen shrub as the Washington state flower. The Coast Rhododendron remains prized in the Evergreen State. It enjoys protection from being picked in the wild where it grows naturally along forest edges and in clearings created by tree falls and fires.

The 'it enjoys protection from being picked in the wild' is all you need. Yeah, it's a flower you're not supposed to pick if you find some hiking or camping or something. If you grow your own, however, you'll be fine.

Since it's spring time and Washington state has no shortage of flowers, I was curious about that question so wanted to share my findings.