Botanical Art 2016 Forever Stamps — Imperforate Booklet of 20

Issue facts

Issued: January 29, 2016
First Day City: Atlanta, GA
Type of Stamp: Definitive (Imperforate)
Printed by: Ashton Potter
Format: Double-sided booklet of 20

Botanical art and the seed catalog

Roughly 1,800 botanical gardens exist worldwide today, from small specialist plots to campuses holding thousands of species. The illustration tradition that grew up alongside them has been serving gardening catalogs and magazines for more than two centuries.

David Landreth founded the first mail-order seed catalog in 1784. His reputation spread quickly enough that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson became customers. He introduced the zinnia to the United States in 1798, followed by the first genuinely white potato and then the tomato, and in 1832 he launched the country's first floral and horticultural magazine.

Why the covers mattered

Seed companies and catalogs multiplied through the 19th century. Industrialization gave many Americans both convenience and leisure, elaborate flower gardens came into fashion, and the catalog cover became the place to sell a new variety.

The W. Atlee Burpee Company was particularly good at it — well-executed cover art generated demand for each season's introductions, and sales followed. Competitors adopted the approach, and a number of firms still prefer painted covers to photography.

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