Tulip Blossoms Stamps

Each fall, millions of gardeners bury bulbs in the earth, eagerlyanticipating the rewards that springtime will bring. Months later, thickgreen leaves poke through the soil, soon revealing their payload: tulipblossoms in spectacular variety from prim to ostentatious. These newstamps from the U.S. Postal Service feature closeup views of 10different tulips in a rainbow of colors.
A member of the lily family (Lilliaceae), the tulip (genus Tulipa) originatedas a wildflower in Central Asia. There, despite the dry, rockyenvironment, these tulip ancestors were able to survive because theycould draw nourishment from the bulb. Over time, traders carried themwest along the Silk Route to Persia, where cultivation of them is thoughtto have begun in the 10th century. By the 16th century, tulips were all therage in Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire (now lstanbulTurkey). The name “tulip," in fact, derives from a Turkish version of thePersian word for “turban,’ an allusion to the flower's shape.
After diplomats in Constantinople shipped bulbs home to westernEurope, the Dutch developed effective wavs to cultivate and market theflower. The tulip trade remains an important part of their nation'seconomy 400 years later.
Dutch immigrants brought tulip bulbs to America, perhaps as early asthe 1600s. The flower has become a dazzling part of the landscape hereand we now import more than one billion bulbs per year. Tulips can begrown in most of the country, outside of the Deep South, and gardenerscan choose among almost endless varieties.
Art director Greg Breeding designed the stamps with existingphotographs by Denise lppolito.
Tulip Blossoms will be issued as Forever stamps in booklets of 20, aswell as coils of 3.000 and 10.000. These Forever stamps will always beequal to the current First-Class Mail@ one-ounce price.
Made in the USA.
SKUs featured on this page: 684204,751504,761704