WHAT:

First-Day-of-Issue dedication ceremony for the Flowers from the Garden Forever stamps. The event is free and open to the public. The public is asked to RSVP at usps.com/flowers.

WHO:

South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard
Sioux Falls Mayor Mike Huether
Sioux Falls City Council member Michelle Erpenbach
U.S. Postal Service Employee Resource Management Vice President Simon Storey
Stamp artist Elizabeth Brandon
Plant Scientist Sarah Stowers

WHEN:

Wed., Aug. 16 @ 4 p.m. CDT

WHERE:

Mary Jo Wegner Arboretum & East Sioux Falls Historic Site
1900 South Perry Place
Sioux Falls, SD 57110

BACKGROUND:

The U.S. Postal Service celebrates the beauty of flowers from American gardens by issuing the Flowers from the Garden Forever stamps. The four stamps feature still-life paintings of bountiful floral bouquets. The stamps may be pre-ordered now at this link for delivery shortly after the Aug. 16 issuance.

Elizabeth 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 different paintings of flowers gathered from the garden and artfully arranged in a container. One stamp features red camellias and yellow forsythia in a yellow pitcher, while on another there are 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 another stamp, while blue hydrangeas in a blue pot appear on another.

The floral paintings of the Dutch and Flemish artists featured exuberant, massed arrangements, which gave 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 they 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 sometimes even grow in the same country.  When reproducing the stamp images for media use only the credit line “Digital Images and Paintings © Elizabeth Brandon” is required.