America's Gardens Forever Stamps!

The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens stamp
in the new American Gardens commemorative sheet
photo courtesy of the U. S. Postal Service

Since coronavirus has arrived, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has heroically helped the nation keep functioning.

Whether it’s delivering face coverings, hand sanitizer or a puzzle to keep the family happy, postal workers are a beacon of light in the pandemic. From Montauk to Monterrey, from Lake Superior’s Isle Royale to the dunes at Lake Michigan’s southern end, the Postal Service is keeping America connected in these tough times.

Recently, the USPS gave beleaguered Americans another gift - - The American Gardens Forever Stamps, a 20-stamp sheet with two sets of photographs from 10 of America’s most prominent botanical gardens.

Photograph courtesy of U. S. Postal Service

The photographs were taken between 1996 and 2014 by Allen Rokach. Ethel Kessler was the stamp set’s art director and designer.

The 10 gardens are as follows:

• Biltmore Estate Gardens, North Carolina
• Brooklyn Botanic Garden, New York
• Chicago Botanic Garden, Illinois
• Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Maine
• Dumbarton Oaks Garden, Washington, D. C.
• The Huntington Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California
• Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park, Florida
• Norfolk Botanical Gardens, Virginia
• Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens, Ohio and 
• Winterthur Garden, Delaware.

Biltmore Estate Gardens
Photograph courtesy of U. S. Postal Service

The brightest stamp in the set shows red tulips at the Biltmore Estate Gardens in Asheville. If you are writing to a friend and there’s rain in the forecast where they live, seeing so many bright flowers might be a nice pick-me-up.

However, if the deer ate all your friend’s tulips this spring, this might not be a good choice. Instead, it might be better to send the red flowers in the Norfolk Botanical Garden, or the tall yellow blooms in the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.

Norfolk Botanical Garden
Photograph courtesy of the U. S. Postal Service

Rokach’s photographs are beautiful and the Postal Service did a great job printing them on the stamps. But the photographs capture only a moment in time in each garden. For example, the stamp for the Huntington Botanical Gardens in Los Angeles County has subdued light. Whenever our family has visited the place, the light is usually brighter.

The Huntington
Photograph courtesy of the U. S. Postal Service

If you have a chance to visit any of these gardens but do not find the view in the stamp photograph appealing, go anyway. You will find something else appealing.

In addition to these 10 botanical gardens, almost every community has smaller or less well-known gardens. If they are reopening or are open, please visit them. Like other cultural institutions, botanical gardens have suffered considerable financial losses. They need the support.

Many people are rediscovering the joys of patio, urban or backyard gardening. Participants in community gardens, such as the Guilderland Community Gardens, are planting and cultivating flowers as lush and dramatic as those in more formal settings.

These stamps also remind us to keep looking at nature, whether you are staying inside because of an underlying condition, getting much needed exercise outside or traveling on errands.