The Garden Beauty set of 10 stamps is the latest United States issue to celebrate the popularity and beauty of flowers.
Processed as a double-sided pane of 20 (with 12 stamps on one side and eight stamps and a label on the other), the new non-denominated (55¢) forever stamps have a Feb. 23 issue date.
The 10 designs by U.S. Postal Service art director Ethel Kessler were created using photographs by Allen Rokach.
The photographer’s website describes him as “an expert in location photography best known for his photographs of flowers, gardens and landscapes.”
For 14 years, he was a staff photographer and director of photography at the New York Botanical Garden. He was also the senior photographer for Southern Living magazine for 10 years.
Rokach’s photography was previously featured on the U.S. American Gardens forever stamps issued May 13, 2020, in a pane of 20.
The flowers appearing on the new stamps, as described by the Postal Service, are a pink flowering dogwood, orange and yellow tulip, an allium (ornamental onion), a pink moth orchid with mottled petals, a magenta dahlia, a yellow moth orchid with a pink center, a pink and white sacred lotus, a pink and white Asiatic lily, a rose pink and white tulip, and a yellow and pink American lotus.
Besides a tiny 2021 year date near the upper left corner, the only inscription shown on each stamp is FOREVER USA in dropout white lettering reading up from the lower left corner.
This is the third year the Postal Service has issued a double-sided pane of 20 flower stamps with 10 designs.
Flower stamps are popular with mailers, and the subject vies with the American flag as a common theme on U.S. postage.
