Peonies bloom in Canada Post’s March 3 Spring Flowers issue

By David Hartwig

Canada Post continues its Spring Flowers series March 3 with two stamps showcasing two varieties of peonies developed by Canadian-born horticulturists.

Canada Post offers the se-tenant (side-by-side) pair of nondenominated permanent-rate (currently $1.24) stamps in a booklet of 10, strip of four, strip of 10, coil of 50 and souvenir sheet of two. The stamps show the hybrid peonies Cytherea and Marie-Victorin.

Arthur Percy Saunders, born in Ottawa, Canada, in 1869, developed the Cytherea hybrid in 1953. “Named after the Greek goddess of love,” Canada Post says, “ ‘Cytherea’ is a cherry rose “semi-double” – meaning that it has two or more rows of petals.”

A chemist by trade, Saunders served as the director of the American Peony Society “from 1909 almost continuously until his death,” according to information from the American Peony Society. More information on the work of Saunders can be found online.

Maurice Menard and Lindsay D’Aoust, both of Quebec, are credited with the development of the hybrid Marie-Victorin in 2004. Canada Post says: “ ‘Marie-Victorin’ is a symmetrical, globe-shaped flower composed of a single row of rounded, pale pink petals with purple-pink flares. It was named after the founder of the Montreal Botanical Garden.”

In 2024 the Canada Peony Society awarded the Peony of the Year award to another hybrid from Menard and D’Aoust, named Prosperity Maud and developed in 2003. …

The Peony stamps, souvenir sheet and FDC are available from Canada Post, and by mail order from Canada Post Customer Service, Box 90022, 2701 Riverside Drive, Ottawa, ON K1V 1J8 Canada; or by telephone from the United States or Canada at 800-565-4362, and from other countries at 902-863-6550.

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