Garden Flowers II

What is it about gardening that makes it among the most popular physical activities in New Zealand? Is it the chance to enjoy the great outdoors while staying close to home? The satisfaction of seeing extraordinary beauty bloom from the plainest of seeds? Or merely the simple pleasure of hard work rewarded?

Whatever the reason, New Zealanders are garden-lovers on a grand scale, whether they are tending their own blooms or enjoying the fruits of others' labour in the many public botanical gardens and private estates open to view.

Our Garden Flowers stamp issue applauds this floral fanaticism with five beautifully illustrated flowers - each one bred and raised in New Zealand, and a product of many hours, sometimes years, of meticulous care and attention.

Magnolia 'Vulcan' - 45c
Bred by the late Felix Jury, the 'Vulcan' attracted international acclaim for its dramatic deep-red-wine colouring and its cup-and-saucer shaped flowers. Felix was determined to create a magnolia that gardeners could grow at home; the result is a relatively small specimen that reaches four metres in 10 years.

Helleborus 'Unnamed Hybrid' - 90c
With an 1100-year history as a medicinal (although mildly poisonous) plant, the easy-care helleborus (or winter rose) has been extensively cross-bred and today is a favourite winter-flowerer. Ken Telford's as-yet-unnamed double-purple hybrid is a fine example, a delightfully colourful sight in south Otago's often frosty winter conditions.

Nerine 'Anzac' - $1.35
The nerine is commonly known as the 'Guernsey lily', a name that arose in 1659 after a Dutch ship carrying bulbs from the Far East foundered and lost its cargo off the coast of the Channel island. Terry Hatch has added a new dimension to the story, naming his blood-red, April-blooming hybrid 'Anzac' in tribute to the soldiers of the Australia New Zealand Army Corps.

Rhododendron 'Charisma' - $1.50
Taranaki's Pukeiti Rhododendron Trust is the world's largest public rhododendron garden, with a 50-year history of breeding and growing these spectacular flowers. It has been caring for 'Charisma' since it arrived in New Zealand from Burma in 1951 - a true crowd-pleaser with its abundance of soft-pink, highly scented flowers that appear every October.

Delphinium 'Sarita' - $2.00
'Sarita' became part of New Zealand's floral landscape when breeder Terry Dowdeswell was cross-breeding for double-flowered hybrid delphiniums. This compact, strong and vigorously growing plant produces a flower spike about two metres long and with well over 100 individual, ruffle-edge florets - each a delicate shade of light blue with mauve tinting.

A perfumed bouquet
The Garden Flowers miniature sheet is a floral display in more ways than one - as well as presenting all five stamps in their pictorial splendour, the 45c magnolia is fragrantly perfumed! This is New Zealand Post's first-ever 'scratch and smell' stamp - a collector's item and a pleasant sensory experience in one beautiful package.

 Technical details

Date of Issue: 2 June 2004
Designer: Comm Arts Design, Wellington, New Zealand
Printer: Southern Colour Print, Dunedin
Stamp Size: 30mm x 35mm
Sheet Size: 50
Paper Type: Tullis Russell 104gsm Red Phosphor Stamp paper
Perforation: 13.85 x 13.75
Period of Sale: Unless stocks are exhausted earlier, these stamps and first day covers will remain on sale until close of business 1 June 2005.