# 5470 - 2020 First-Class Forever Stamp - American Gardens; Norfolk Botanical Garden, VA

US #5470
2020 Norfolk Botanical Garden, Virginia – American Gardens

• Honors Norfolk Botanical Garden in Virginia
• Part of the 10-stamp American Gardens set

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Set:  American Gardens
Value:  55¢ First Class Mail Rate (Forever)
First Day of Issue:  May 13, 2020
First Day City:  Winterthur, Delaware
Quantity Issued:  50,000,000
Printed by:  Banknote Corporation of America
Printing Method:  Offset
Format:  Panes of 20
Tagging:  Phosphor tagged paper, block

Why the stamp was issued:  To celebrate the beauty and history of the well-known Norfolk Botanical Garden in Virginia.

About the stamp design:  Pictures a photograph of Norfolk Botanical Garden by Allen Rokach.

First Day City:  First Day of Issue postmark from Winterthur, Delaware (home to Winterthur Garden), with a virtual First Day of Issue Ceremony the following day (May 14).

About the American Gardens set:  Includes 10 stamps issued to celebrate the beauty and history of well-known gardens across America.  Each stamp pictures a photograph of a different garden taken by Allen Rokach.  The gardens included are:  Biltmore Estate Gardens (North Carolina), Brooklyn Botanic Garden (New York), Chicago Botanic Garden (Illinois), Coastal Maine Botanic Garden (Maine), Dumbarton Oaks Garden (Washington, DC), Huntington Botanical Garens (California), Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park (Florida), Norfolk Botanical Garden (Virginia), Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens (Ohio), and Winterthur Garden (Delaware).

History the stamp represents:  The Norfolk Botanical Gardens is a 158-acre botanical garden and arboretum in Norfolk, Virginia.  It was also listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

The idea for the Norfolk Botanical Gardens emerged in 1938 when city manager Thomas P. Thompson and horticulturalist Frederic Heutte were given 150 acres of land to create a city garden.  The Works Progress Administration grant employed 220 people to clear the site, and by 1939, 4,000 azaleas, 2,000 rhododendrons, 100 bushels of daffodils, and thousands of shrubs and trees had been planted.  A second grant was soon issued, and the garden was expanded to make room for even more species.

In 1958, the Norfolk Botanical Garden received its official name.  It was also around this time that many specialty gardens were being constructed.  Today, there are over a dozen of these for visitors to explore including healing, rose, butterfly, colonial herb, conifer, four seasons, fragrance, camellia, Japanese, hydrangea, renaissance, and rhododendron gardens.  There is also Mirror Lake, Statuary Vista, NATO Overlook, and several other points of interest.

With so many different flowers and trees to see, there’s something at Norfolk Botanical Gardens for every visitor to enjoy.