U.S. #2829-33
1994 Summer Garden Flowers
Stamp Category: Commemorative
Series: Garden Flowers
Value: Set of five 29c stamps
First Day of Issue: April 28, 1994
First Day City: Cincinnati, Ohio
Quantity Issued: 166,014,000 panes
Printed By: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method: Lithographed and engraved
Format: Printed in four panes of 5 vertical se-tenant stamps
Perforations: 10.9 vertically
Why the set was issued: Issued as part of the Garden flower Series, this set was the second installment. The US Postal Service was eager to produce “bright, pretty American stamps” people liked and would buy. It was decided garden flowers would be popular with the public.
Each stamp fulfilled the then-current first-class postage rate of 29c.
About the stamp design: The stamps were designed by artist Ned Seidler, who had designed the1993 garden flowers. The flowers featured (lily, zinnia, gladiolus, marigold and rose) were those that could be found in a summer garden. Seidler used the same clever technique as before, with all the flowers looking like part of the same bouquet.
The painting was a combination of watercolor and gouache. Gouache is a thicker, opaque form of watercolor.
First Day of Issue Ceremony: The ceremony was held at the Greater Cincinnati, Ohio, Flower and Garden Show.
Unusual fact about the gladiola stamp: A member of the Connecticut Gladiolus Society sent a letter to the postmaster general about one of the stamps, stating “The correct name is gladiolus, not gladiola. The word gladiolus, singular and plural, has been accepted for more than 50 years by all the local gladiolus societies in the United States and by the North American Gladiolus Council.” The USPS responded that they had simply chosen to go with the more popular “gladiola.”
About the Series: On May 15, 1993, the USPS issued the first installment in the Garden Flower Series, which would honor flowers that bloom in each of the four seasons.
This series was born out of the 1992 Wildflowers issue. That project had begun when the USPS asked an artist to produce color sketches of a group of garden flowers. Instead, the artist gave the USPS illustrations of wildflowers. The USPS liked them so much, it decided to create a 50-stamp pane, showing wildflowers that can be found in each state.
The USPS still liked the garden flowers idea. Part of the push behind these stamps had come from the sale of stamps in supermarkets and other retailers. People said they wanted “bright, pretty American stamps.” The USPS decided flower booklets would please the public. It ran TV commercials and full-page advertisements in stamp publications announcing “The flowers are in bloom at your post office. Buy them while they last!” and “Pick up a bunch.” The Garden Flowers booklet was the first to be produced on the new Goebel booklet machine, which was the first to print multicolor covers.
The stamps were issued on May 15, 1993, in Spokane, Washington at the 55th annual Spokane Lilac Festival and International Lilac Society Convention. Though not announced at the time, these stamps were to be the first in a new series of seasonal flower booklets.
The second booklet in the series was issued on April 28, 1994, at the Greater Cincinnati, Ohio, Flower and Garden Show. It featured summer garden flowers. Some people took issue with one of the stamps, which used the word “gladiola” rather than gladiolus.
The third booklet in the series was issued on September 19, 1995, at the Quail Botanical Gardens in Encinitas, California. This booklet featured fall blooms, though some people noted that depending on where you live in the country, some of these flowers could grow in the summer or even the spring. One USPS representative responded that “The idea with this series was to show a grouping of flowers that would be together somewhere in a garden at the same time. It’s not scientific. It’s meant to be more for mass-market appeal, as opposed to botanical.”
The final booklet in the series was issued on January 19, 1996, in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. The flowers selected for these stamps are the hardiest plants that grow anywhere in the country that experiences winter weather.
The history behind the stamps: Since ancient times, mankind has cultivated beautiful flowers. The five flowers pictured on the Summer Garden Flowers stamps – the Lily, Zinnia, Rose, Gladiolus, and Marigold, are favorites with gardeners around the world.
Flowers have always been prized for their beautiful colors and delightful fragrances. Found growing from the cold wastelands of the Arctic to the jungles of the tropics, all flowers were originally wild. In time, people learned how to grow plants from seeds and began raising the prettiest and sweetest-smelling flowers in gardens. By 3000 B.C. the Egyptians had begun to cultivate a variety of flowers, including jasmine, poppies, and water lilies. Today garden flowers are cultivated throughout the world.
Lily
One of the world’s most beautiful flowers, the lily is also one of the oldest plants known to man. It is mentioned in history for the first time on a tablet inscribed nearly 5,000 years ago in Sumer. The tablet tells of a Persian city surrounded by fields of lilies. That ancient city was called Susa, which means lily.
From Persia the lily spread to Crete, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. It is believed caravans of nomads took the edible bulbs along as food for their long journeys. Occasionally a bulb would drop and take root. Eventually the lily made it to northern Europe and England, most likely in the belongings of homesick Roman soldiers.
Wherever it went, the lily was usually regarded as a sacred flower. The Minoans, Greeks, and Romans associated it with their goddesses. Greek mythology claimed the flower had sprung from the milk of Hera, Zeus’ wife. Closely intertwined with Christian history, the white lily was used for centuries to symbolize the purity of the Virgin Mary and her role as Queen of the Angels.
Today there are more than 12,000 species offering a multitude of colors, shapes, and sizes. Popular varieties include the tiger lily, Easter lily, and Japanese lily.
Zinnias
The last flower in alphabetical listings, zinnias often come first in preference among gardeners. Like marigolds, they are easy to grow and their brilliant blossoms make an eye-catching addition to any garden.
Native to the southwestern U.S. and Central and South America, zinnias are also cultivated in Europe. Interestingly, its blossoms are made up of two types of flowers – small, tube-shaped disk flowers in the center and petal-like ray flowers around the edge. Although they are often seen in reds, yellows, and oranges, this handsome flower comes in a variety of colors, including apricot, cream, violet, and even green. Some varieties are multicolored or striped.
Gladiolus
Throughout their colorful history, flower bulbs have been used for flavorings and medicines, traded for exorbitant prices, and emblazoned on the banners of royalty. But for thousands of years, they have been grown, above all, for their beauty in gardens. A billion-dollar business, bulbs account for $300 million in sales a year. Although tulips are the most popular worldwide, the gladiolus is still the best-selling bulb in the U.S.
Often called the sword lily, the gladiolus most likely gets its name from its long sword-like leaves. In fact, its name in Latin means “little dagger.” Large, silky flowers grow above one another in clusters along one side of the stem. The lower blossoms open first, and if a spike is cut when only the lower flowers are in bloom, the buds above them will continue to open. For this reason, gladioluses are a favorite cut flower. A mainstay of the florist trade, more land in the United States (over 20,000 acres) is devoted to raising them commercially than to any other bulb.
This stately flower ranges from one foot to over five feet tall in height and comes in every color of the rainbow – including a blue gladiolus that is grown mainly in South Africa. The most popular colors are red, orange, and white.
Marigolds
Marigolds are among the most popular flowers in American gardens. Exceedingly easy to grow, they reward gardeners with immense quantities of color, creating natural borders for walkways and gardens. They range in color from near white through vivid yellows and oranges to reddish browns and generally grow from twelve inches to over three feet in height.
Marigolds descended from a wild Mexican species and were brought to Europe in the 1500’s by Spanish explorers. Through the years they have been hybridized and developed to produce four different types – African or Aztec marigolds, French marigolds, African-French hybrids, and dwarf marigolds.
Massed alone or mixed with other flowers, marigolds show off their vivid beauty in beds, borders, and terrace pots. Their bright colors and long life make them ideal as cut flowers. But their versatility goes beyond the garden. In Mexico, acres of marigolds are grown for chicken feed. When the blossoms are fed to hens, they produce eggs with the dark yellow yolks Mexican housewives demand. And because of the pungent oil they produce, many gardeners use marigolds as a natural repellent against nematodes, small parasitic worms that live on plant roots.
Rose
With its delicate blossoms and sweet fragrance, the rose is often thought of as a flower requiring a great deal of attention. But like all garden flowers, at one time it was found growing wild. Originating in central Asia, the rose spread to the Northern Hemisphere and could be found growing from the arctic cold of Alaska and Siberia to the desert heat of India and South America. Fossil roses, found in Colorado and Oregon, date as far back as 40 million years. Today roses continue to grow wild in all fifty states.
The Chinese were the first to cultivate wild roses. By the time of the Han Dynasty (202 B.C.-A.D. 220), rose gardens had become so popular that huge parks were devoted to these beautiful flowers. When land needed for agriculture was set aside to grow roses, food production became threatened, forcing the emperor to destroy many of the elaborate parks.
The Egyptians did a thriving business growing roses for the Romans. So enamored with roses were the Romans, that they would often spend thousands of dollars on roses for one feast. In fact, one order from Emperor Nero ran up a bill totaling almost $100,000! Even today the rose is still the world’s best known and most popular flower.
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