Canada’s Spring Flowers – 17 years & counting

by catpaw | 11 Mar, 2024 | Catpaw's Picks, country Stamps, Stamps

Each year, Canada Post ushers in spring with a fresh pair of flower stamps. It’s one of the highlights of the year and has proven to be immensely popular. The long running series began in 2007 with a Canadian favourite Lilacs. 

Although the series officially started in 2007, a preview of sorts popped up March 2005 and 2006. 2005 saw a set of daffodils issued for Pacific Explorer 2005 World Stamp Expo. The second unofficial Spring Flowers release was a 4-stamp set titled Gardens that featured gardens, birds and insects. It was directly due to the success of both the ’05 and ’06 stamps that led Canada Post to follow up with the annual Flower series, now in its 17th year. 

Each set comes with 2 stamps, souvenir sheets, FDCs and special cancels as well as booklets and (sometimes) rolls. I’ve opted to include only the stamps and souvenir sheets. I’ll return each year to add onto this page for as long as the series is issued. 

March 10, 2005 – Daffodils

• Yellow Daffodils
• White Daffodils

Pacific Explorer 2005 World Stamp Expo

Unfortunately for the designer, when it came time to photograph daffodils for these stamps last April, there wasn’t a bloom to be found. “I called florists and grocers all over the Montreal region,” says Isabelle Toussaint. “But potted daffodils are grown much earlier in the season, and they weren’t yet flowering naturally in this area, so no one could sell us any. We actually began looking at fabric reproductions, to see how realistic they would appear. A couple of weeks later, as I was driving home one evening, I saw some daffodils just opening in my neighbour’s garden. I called the photographer right away and said, ‘I’ve got some! Can you shoot this week?’

With her neighbour’s permission, Toussaint dug up two varieties of daffodil, complete with bulbs and a good shovelful of earth. “I left the holes in the soil, and after the photo shoot, I just put them back,” says Toussaint. Throughout their celebrity moment, the daffodils remained healthy, and returned to the garden to continue blooming. Daffodils | Canada Post (canadapost-postescanada.ca)

Designer: Isabelle Toussaint using photos by Marc Montplaisir

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March 8, 2006 – Gardens

• Shade Garden, Black-throated Blue Warbler (Dendroica caerule)
• Flower Garden, American Painted Lady (Vanessa virginiensis)
• Water Garden, Green Darner Dragonfly (Anax junius)
• Rock Garden, Blue-spotted Salamander (Ambystoma laterale)

Issued for the Canada Blooms Garden Show in Toronto.

Adams took this idea of creating a garden as natural habitat as a central theme and sought out gardens that showcased native plants, as much as possible, then accented each stamp with a meticulously detailed illustration of a wild creature that would be enticed by the particular type of garden. The flower garden stamp features an American painted lady butterfly; the shade garden a black-throated blue warbler; the rock garden, a blue-spotted salamander; and the water garden, a green darner dragonfly. Gardens | Canada Post

Designer: Debbie Adams using artwork by Jeff Domm and photographs by Andrew Leyerle

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March 1, 2007 – Lilacs

• Princess Alexandra, Syringa vulgaris – originally cultivated by James Dougall of Windsor in 1874. Named after Alexandra, the Queen-consort of King Edward VII
• Isabella, Syringa X prestoniae – a 1927 hybrid cultivated by Isabella Preston at the Central Experimental Farm

“We wanted two typically Canadian lilacs for these stamps,” explains Danielle Trottier, Manager of Stamp Design and Production at Canada Post. “So we chose the white Syringa vulgaris ‘Princess Alexandra’ and the Syringa x prestoniae ‘Isabella’, which is pale purple.” Lilacs | Canada Post

Photographs for this series were taken at the Central Experimental Farm. Toussaint had to choose from more than 700 lilac varieties. As the oldest Canadian hybrid, the Princess Alexandra was a natural choice. But grabbing the best shots was fraught with weather vagaries. 

Photographing the ‘Isabella’ went according to plan. However, when the earlier-blooming ‘Princess Alexandra’ was at its most beautiful, the weather wasn’t, leaving Toussaint wondering if she would be able to photograph the flowers without resorting to artificial light.

“The blooming season was ending,” says Toussaint. “And it had been raining for a week. There wasn’t an inch of blue sky to be seen. I had reluctantly started to shoot using artificial light when the clouds suddenly parted and the sun came out.” Lilacs | Canada Post

Designer: Isabelle Toussaint

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March 3, 2008 – Peonies

• Paeonia lactiflora “Coral ‘n Gold”
• Paeonia lactiflora “Elgin”

To photograph appropriate specimens, Isabelle Toussaint, a freelance designer in Montréal, travelled to Ottawa and visited greenhouses at the Central Experimental Farm and Algonquin College. In the design, Toussaint created a soft, neutral background and used close-cut and shadowing techniques to emphasize the blooms and foliage.

“I love to work in my garden, although I’m by no means an expert,” says Toussaint. “The challenge was to create a stamp that mimics the impact that peonies have-when they flower, they make a bold statement.”  Peonies | Canada Post

Designer: Isabelle Toussaint

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March 13, 2009 – Rhododendrons 

• White Rhododendrons
• Pink Rhododendrons

The photographs featured on the stamps were taken at the 2008 Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada exhibition in Kentville, Nova Scotia. An extensive rhododendron selection was in full-bloom by mid-June, when stamp designer Isabelle Toussaint visited the site.

To capture the flowers in all their glory, natural light was needed. “I didn’t want to resort to artificial lighting, fearing I might lose some of the more striking features,” explains Toussaint. Luckily, weather conditions helped realize her hopes. “It was a partly cloudy day, but I was able to take advantage of the brief intervals of sunshine that occurred throughout.” Rhododendrons | Canada Post (canadapost-postescanada.ca)

Designer: Isabelle Toussaint

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March 10, 2010 – African Violets

• Decelles’ Avalanche
• Picasso

“The idea was to show the violets as decorative indoor plants, which is how we’re accustomed to seeing them,” explains designer Isabelle Toussaint. The photographs were taken by Toussaint at an SSM show at the Montréal Botanical Garden in April 2009. She later added the pots digitally using Photoshop. “I sought to create nice, aesthetic pots that were simple enough not to overshadow the flowers.” The similarity between the two pots creates a mirror effect when the stamps are positioned side by side. African Violets | Canada Post

Designer: Isabelle Toussaint

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March 3, 2011 – Sunflowers 

• Sunbright
• Prado Red

While sunflowers originated in North America, thanks to exploration and colonization, they made a rather circuitous route to hybridization, via Russia and Eastern Europe. However, it was Canada that established the first official government sunflower breeding program in 1930, drawing the expertise of Mennonite farmers whose families had originated in Russia. The demand for sunflower oil grew and by 1946, these farmers built a small crushing plant. In 1964, the Canadian government licensed a Russian cultivar called Peredovik. 

… 

 “Both as a single flower and as part of entire field of blooms, there’s something so compelling about the tall sunflower and how it stretches and grows directly facing the sun. How it’s pulled by the light. I wanted to convey the majesty of this flower, to highlight its size and height, to focus all attention on it, a goal that was achieved by simply letting it stand alone against an immense blue sky.” Sunflowers | Canada Post (canadapost-postescanada.ca)

Designer: Isabelle Toussaint

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March 1, 2012 – Day Lilies

• Daylilies purple
• Daylilies orange

 “I always try to get early morning and late afternoon shots, when the lighting allows for lots of contrast and detail,” says Isabelle Toussaint, photographer and designer for the long-running series. “Although the sun was shining for both sessions, the light was completely different for each, and I was able to get many great shots.”

“We wanted to be sure to show a daylily that Canadians would recognize, so we decided to use the common orange ones,” says Danielle Trottier, Stamp Design manager. “The purple daylily, which has been identified as “Louis Lorrain,” was chosen not only because it was a bit more exotic but also contrasted so beautifully with the orange.” The third variety, shown on the souvenir sheet is known as the “Jeff Holden.” Daylilies | Canada Post

Designer: Isabelle Toussaint

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March 4, 2013 – Magnolias

• Yellow bird
• Eskimo

The name magnolia comes from French botanist Pierre Magnol. There are over 200 varieties of magnolias.

According to photographer and designer Isabelle Toussaint, “During my first trip to the Experimental Farm in Ottawa in May 2011, I photographed a wide variety of the typical white and pink magnolias. But this year, we wanted to show a less known variety of flower in the stamp duo. We learned that the rarer yellow magnolias would bloom two weeks later, so I made a second trip to photograph them on a beautiful sunny day. The choice was so vast that we could pick three more hybrids for the souvenir sheet, the OFDC and the inside of the booklet.”

She adds, “Since the magnolia is a tree and the flowers extend beyond the leaves, there was a bare effect, so I chose to keep the sky in the background, on both the stamps and the other collectibles.” Magnolias | Canada Post

Designer: Isabelle Toussaint

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April 23, 2014 – Roses 

• Konrad Henkel (red)
• Maid of Honour (white)

 “I initially took several pictures reflecting two colours of flowers – classic red and white. But the choice was so vast that I also took dozens of pictures of other varieties, each one more beautiful than the last. Some have been used for the cover and inside the booklet, and on the Official First Day Cover and the souvenir sheet.” Roses | Canada Post (canadapost-postescanada.ca)

Designer: Isabelle Toussaint

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March 2, 2015 – Pansies 

• Delta Premium Pansy
• Midnight Glow Pansy

The flower’s name comes from pensée, the French word for thought or remembrance. Pansies bloom in three visually distinctive classifications – blotched (or faced), single-coloured (clear) and single-coloured with dark lines radiating from the centre (whiskers). While the flowers are considered perennials, they tend to diminish after their first year, so most gardeners treat them as biennials. Pansies | Canada Post (canadapost-postescanada.ca)

Designer: Paul Haslip from HM&E Design

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March 1, 2016 – Hydrangeas

• Hydrangea macrophylla
• Hydrangea arborescens

Inspired by traditional botanical drawings, the stamps feature high-contrast tones, sumptuous colours, and realistic details.  Flower series blooms again with set of hydrangea stamps | Canada Post

Designer: Sputnik Design Partners 

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March 1, 2017 – Daisies

• Hydrangea arborescens
• Tetraneuris herbacea

While named after a shoreline village in Ohio, the lakeside daisy is now almost exclusively found on southern Ontario’s Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island. Designated “threatened” on both federal and provincial species-at-risk lists, the perennial plant thrives in development-prone areas of exposed bedrock with scant soil.

The usually lavender showy fleabane is found in wet meadows and open forests in higher elevation areas of British Columbia and Alberta. Canada Post picks Daisies for 2017 | Canada Post

Designer: Debbie Adams

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March 1, 2018 – Lotus

• Nelumbo nucifera
• Nelumbo lutea

Stamp designers Gary Beelik and Kristine Do of Parcel used watercolour portraits by Eunike Nugroho to depict different bloom phases in a set of connected (se-tenant) stamps. The blue background evokes a watery habitat, while a spot gloss varnish reveals a Chinese Bulbul bird, a koi fish and a dragonfly – creatures that share surroundings with lotuses. Lotus | Canada Post (canadapost-postescanada.ca)

Designer: Gary Beelik and Kristine Do from Parcel Design using artwork by Eunike Nugroho

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February 14, 2019 – Gardenias

• Gardenias (Pink Background)
• Gardenias (Green Background)

Designer: Andrew Conlon and Lionel Gadoury, from Context Creative using artwork by Chantal Larocque

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March 2, 2020 – Dahlias

Dahlias

Dahlias can be found in almost every colour of the rainbow, except blue. Said to symbolize honesty, balance, inner strength, creativity, positive change and kindness, they have more recently come to be associated with diversity because of the seamless way their many petals form a single, dazzling blossom. Dahlia | Canada Post (canadapost-postescanada.ca)

Designers: Lionel Gadoury, Malika Soin and Umaymah Motala

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March 1, 2021 – Crab Apple Blossoms

• Malus “Maybride”
• Malus “Rosseau”

The pretty bright-pink flower of Malus ‘Rosseau’ was introduced in 1928 by the Central Experimental Farm’s pioneering ornamental plant breeder, Isabella Preston. The delicate white bloom of Malus ‘Maybride’ is a dwarf cultivar bred by Preston’s successors, Daniel Foster Cameron and Dexter Reid Sampson. Crabapple Blossoms | Canada Post (canadapost-postescanada.ca)

Designer: Sputnik Design Partners using artwork by Marie-Élaine Cusson and photography by Mark Olson 

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March 1, 2022 – Calla Lilies

• Zantedeschia sp

In the Victorian language of flowers, the calla has much to say, each message determined by its colour. White, for example, signifies purity and innocence, while pink conveys admiration and appreciation, and near-black evokes elegance and mystery. Calla | Canada Post (canadapost-postescanada.ca)

Designer:  Paprika Communications using artwork by Fanny Roy  

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March 1, 2023 – Ranunculus

• Persian Buttercup (Ranunculus asiaticus)

Native to southwestern Asia, southern Europe and northern Africa, Ranunculus asiaticus is also known as Persian buttercup. The name Ranunculus comes from the Latin words for “little frog,” since many species grow near streams – although the variety shown on the stamps is more partial to sunny hillsides and pastures. While the wild Ranunculus is usually yellow, cultivated blooms can be orange, red, violet or various shades of pink. Ranunculus | Canada Post (canadapost-postescanada.ca)

Designer: Stéphane Huot using artwork by Veronique Meignaud

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March 1, 2024 – Wildflowers

• butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)
• spotted beebalm (Monarda punctata)

These two wildflowers are native to parts of southern Ontario and southwestern Quebec and are protected in Quebec.

Both plants are perennial herbs that can grow up to a metre tall. The glossy leaves of butterfly milkweed, and the leaves of other milkweeds, are the sole source of food for monarch butterfly caterpillars. These striking pollinators are affected by deforestation, climate change and the loss of native plants along their migratory corridors. Annual flower stamp issue showcases environmentally important wildflowers | Canada Post

Designer: Andrew Perro using artwork by Alain Massicotte