# 5780 - 2023 First-Class Forever Stamp - Tulip Blossoms: Orange and Red Tulip (booklet stamp)

U.S. #5780
2023 Orange and Red Tulip (Booklet)
Tulip Blossoms

• Part of the Tulip Blossoms set heralding the arrival of spring and celebrating America’s love of tulips
• This stamp design was also issued in coils of 3,000 and coils of 10,000 

Stamp Category:  Definitive
Value:  63¢, First Class Mail (Forever)
First Day of Issue:  April 5, 2023
First Day City:  Woodburn, Oregon
Quantity Issued:  500,000,000 stamps
Printed by:  Banknote Corporation of America
Printing Method:  Offset
Format:  Double-sided booklet of 20
Tagging:  Phosphor tagged paper, block

First Day City:  The First Day of Issue Ceremony was held in Woodburn, Oregon, at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival, an annual event celebrating tulips and other elements of Dutch culture (such as wooden shoes).

About the Tulip Blossoms set:  According to the USPS, the set was issued to celebrate spring and the popularity of tulips across America.  Each of the 10 stamp designs pictures a close-up of a tulip from photographs by Denise Ippolito.  The flowers fill nearly the entire frame of each stamp.

History the stamp represents:  Holland is home to one of the world’s most famous tulip gardens – Keukenhof.  It is located in the municipality of Lisse and makes up 79 acres.  There, visitors can enjoy approximately 7 million flowers every year.  Among them are hyacinths, daffodils, lilies, roses, carnations, irises, and, of course, tulips.

Keukenhof is located southwest of Amsterdam in the area of Holland known as the “Dune and Bulb Region.”  During the annual 8-week tulip festival, special buses are available in surrounding communities to bring visitors to the Keukenhof fields.  Visitors are not permitted to enter the tulip fields, but are welcome to take photographs from the roads and pathways.  Many people choose to bicycle around the fields to add to the fun of the experience.

The tulips of Keukenhof are re-planted every year by the estate’s 40 gardeners.  Over 7 million bulbs are donated by more than 100 tulip growers, with planting beginning around early October.  It takes the gardeners through early December to finish their task.  An interesting practice at Keukenhof is that three tulip bulbs are planted in every hole, each at a different depth.  This is to ensure there will be full fields of flowers throughout the 8-week festival.  It is a lot of work, but well worth it for the end result.