Sunday 10 April 2011

Roses

Flowers are a popular theme with postal authorities, indeed I only received some on a Belarus postcard this week, but for Sunday Stamps I am journeying to China who have issued some lovely flowers stamps over the years. The pretty painting above is on the cover of a philatelic item of commemorative stamps celebrating the Chinese Rose issued in 1984.
The butterfly theme follows from the cover with their postage marks. I wonder how many varieties of roses there are in the world.?  There must be thousands.  The booklet calls it the "queen of flowers" and from its wild origins to its ornamental cousin this beautiful flower lives up to that name. I like reading the names of roses in garden centres, some are so imaginative.  These Chinese Roses have some evocative names - Shanghai Spring, Pujiang Rosy Dawn, Pearl, Black Whirlwind, Battlefield Yellow Flower, and the Blue Phoenix
Which are listed in the inside cover.
 Lets walk in a rose garden:

 
Roses by George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) 

You love the roses - so do I. I wish
The sky would rain down roses, as they rain
From off the shaken bush. Why will it not?
Then all the valley would be pink and white
And soft to tread on. They would fall as light
As feathers, smelling sweet; and it would be
Like sleeping and like waking, all at once!

Viridians Postcards is the hostess of Sunday Stamps whose theme this week is flowers of any kind.

7 comments:

Postcardy said...

New roses are being developed all the time. My neighbor has one I want to find this year. It is called "Winnipeg Parks Rose" and is hardy to -40°F.

LiT Web Studio said...

There are so many new hybrids that gifting a name for new varieties has become popular! Lovely stamps...

Postcard Perfect said...

I'm always looking for a peach colored Roses that's why I love the first photo.

My Sunday Stamp

viridian said...

thehybrids are pretty but part of me still likes the wild roses that smell so wonderful.

Ann said...

Beautiful flower stamps. I especially like the cover stamp you featured. Thanks for stopping by.
ann

Cheerful said...

beautiful stamp, great collection and i love it that their postage mark was a butterfly, perfectly match with each other! have a great week! -Postcrossing Mom

Sheila @ A Postcard a Day said...

Roses, I think, are my favourite flowers, especially scented ones, but they all have their own beauty. The stamps are just as beautiful and I love the butterfly theme.