Cytherea - WA

This year’s issue in the annual Flower series includes two stamps featuring the elegant peonies 'Cytherea' and 'Marie-Victorin.' Both were developed by Canadian-born horticulturists and are well suited to the climate in parts of Canada.

Known for their showy blooms, peonies are popular perennials in many private and public ornamental gardens in Canada and elsewhere around the world.

Good to know

• The annual Flower issue is a bestseller that is often used for wedding stationery and is popular among Canadian gardeners.
• Canada Post has issued pairs of commemorative stamps featuring flowers each year since 2007.
• Flowers have also been featured on past issues of definitive stamps and other commemorative stamp issues, including Gardens (2006) and Tulips (2002).

About the issue

This year’s issue in the annual Flower series features two elegant peonies: 'Cytherea' and 'Marie-Victorin.'

About the peonies

Laden with luxurious, delicately perfumed blossoms so large they often require support, peonies are perennial showstoppers. In late spring, their golf-ball-sized buds burst into extravagant bloom, creating a dazzling display in ornamental gardens. Most of today’s cultivars trace their roots to China, where the genus Paeonia has flourished for more than 4,000 years.

This year’s Flower stamps feature two elegant hybrids developed by Canadian-born horticulturists and well suited to the climate in parts of the country. Named after the Greek goddess of love, 'Cytherea' is a cherry rose “semi-double” – meaning that it has two or more rows of petals. It was registered in 1953 by Arthur Percy Saunders, one of the most accomplished peony hybridizers of the 20th century and son of William Saunders, the first director of Canada’s Central Experimental Farm.

'Marie-Victorin' was first propagated in 2004 by Lindsay D’Aoust, who purchased a collection of seedlings grown by Quebec peony breeder Maurice Ménard. A symmetrical, globe-shaped flower composed of a single row of rounded, pale pink petals with purple-pink flares, it was named for Brother Marie-Victorin (1885-1944), founder of the Montréal Botanical Garden.

About the booklet design

• The front cover features the photograph from the 'Cytherea' stamp.
• In the background of the two inside panels is a photograph of peonies.
• The booklet also includes 10 envelope seals featuring the two flowers.