Floral Bouquets Bloom on Stamps

Today the U.S. Postal Service issues the Flowers from the Garden Forever stamps that feature bountiful floral bouquet still lifes by Elizabeth Brandon of Franklin, TN. 

At 4 p.m. CDT, the stamps will be dedicated at the Mary Jo Wegner Arboretum and East Sioux Falls Historic Site in Sioux Falls, SD. Followers of the U.S. Postal Service’s Facebook page can view the First-Day-Of-Issue ceremony live at facebook.com/USPS.

“What an honor and privilege it is for me to have my artwork of florals selected for a grouping of United States Forever Stamps,” said Brandon. “I feel a real pride in the fact that so many people can enjoy the traditional and colorful flowers adorning their mail. Art is for everyone, and we all need beauty wherever that may appear. Placing a small stamp of art on our envelopes is one of the small joys of life.”

Brandon’s paintings were inspired by floral still lifes created by Dutch and Flemish artists of the 17th and 18th centuries. Each stamp features one of four of Brandon’s paintings of flowers from the garden artfully arranged in a container.

The floral paintings of Dutch and Flemish artists feature exuberant, massed floral arrangements, which give the impression of wild abandon and impromptu creativity. However, the arrangements were in reality carefully thought out and many times purely imaginary — and frequently botanically impossible. Though the flowers looked as if they had just been plucked from the garden, the bouquets might include flowers that did not bloom during the same season or even grow in the same country. 

One stamp features red camellias and yellow forsythia in a yellow pitcher; another stamp features white peonies and pink tree peonies in a clear vase. An arrangement of white hydrangeas, white and pink roses, green hypericum berries and purple lisianthus in a white vase graces a third stamp; and a fourth stamp shows blue hydrangeas in a blue pot.