Flowers persevere through snow on Oct. 11 U.S. set of 10

By David Hartwig

The United States Postal Service will celebrate the unexpected beauty of flowers in the snow with an Oct. 11 issue of 10 forever stamps in 10 different designs.

The nondenominated (60¢) Snowy Beauty forever stamps will be issued in a double-sided pane (booklets) of 20 in a quantity of 300 million stamps.

Double-sided panes are easily folded into a smaller size by removing the selvage strips between blocks of stamps on both sides of the pane. However, collectors prefer to keep double-sided panes intact.

A first-day ceremony, organized by local postal officials, is scheduled for 11 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time at the pavilion at Guilford Covered Bridge Park in Guilford, Ind. This small community is located in southeastern Indiana approximately 30 miles west of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Christi Johnson-Kennedy, USPS district manager for the greater Indiana district, will serve as the dedicating official for the event.

The 10 stamps feature oil paintings of flowers in the snow by artist Gregory Manchess. Each design shows a colorful plant blooming in the snow. Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamps.

The “forever usa” inscription is in lowercase text running vertically along the right or left side of each stamp. The text either starts at the bottom corner and runs up to about the midpoint of the stamp, or it starts at the midpoint and runs up to the top corner. The year “2022” appears in the bottom left of each stamp below the design.

The stamp in the upper left of the pane shows a camellia. Native to China, Korea and parts of Japan, the camellia is part of the tea family. Its flowers are between 2 inches and 5 inches in diameter and range in shades from white to pink and red. Camellias are often among the first flowers to appear in late winter, as flowering can begin as early as October and finish as late as mid-March.

The crocus appears below the camellia on the pane. Crocus plants feature white, yellow, orange or purple flowers, and some varieties begin blooming in late winter. A variety of crocus is the source of the expensive spice saffron.

According to the website associated with The Old Farmer’s Almanac, many crocuses, with their strong perfumes, provide an important early spring food source for pollinators.

The winterberry plant is pictured below the crocuses. The winterberry is species of holly native to eastern North America and …

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