Extraordinary stamps from Netherlands…

 

'Live the Seasons'

 

  Date of Issue – 17 July 2012

With this issue, PostNL gives attention to the 20th anniversary of the popular Seasons magazine. The magazine focuses on readers who like the outdoors.

The stamps portray images of flowers, leaves and fruit, photographed in different seasons. Every stamp has a special code that can be scanned with the corresponding app on a smartphone, after which all information pertaining to activities involving the Seasons anniversary are displayed. The app can be downloaded free of charge at www.postnl.nl/apps.

Flowers and plants of the season

The style of the magazine is recognisable in the design of the stamps. Seasons Art Director, Bianca van der Veer: ’I felt that being permitted to design a stamp was a present. It crowns our work and we are honoured to do it. Because Seasons is a real seasonal magazine, we have opted for flowers and plants as a symbol for the change in seasons. In the final selection and sequence we let ourselves be guided not only by the quality and colours of the image, but also by the total picture. At Seasons the image comes in first place, graphical design and typography must support and reinforce. “Less is more” is always our guideline in this matter.’

Availability

The stamps are available  at the Bruna shops, at Collect Club in Groningen and online via www.postnl.nl/collectclub. The stamps have an indefinite term of validity. In addition to the stamp sheet featuring ten different stamps, two stamp booklets and two first day covers* will also be available.

About Seasons
Seasons is a very highly acclaimed outdoor lifestyle magazine which is published 8 times a year. Every issue has 200 pages, including 64 pages reserved for a supplement covering a different subject every issue (e.g. Festival, France, Cooking & Eating, Islands and much more). Seasons is about authenticity, aims to inspire, provides a diverse assortment of unique subjects and allows readers to enjoy the wonderful aspects of pure life. The magazine follows the seasons, opens doors that would otherwise stay shut and is devoted to rest and space. Important topics Seasons covers include outdoor life, culinary items, living and travel.

Fruits on Stamps…

 

  

Date of Issue : 9 May 2012

Hi ! Here are two beautiful stamps issued by Magyar Posta. The stamps feature two new types of fruits, the Pándy sour cherry and the Kécske rose apricot. The most significant feature of this issue is its beautiful cancellation which has been designed in the form of a fruit  basket. The stamps are brightly colored and look just magnificent in this hot summer season !! The stamps are sure to be liked by all collectors !!

Pándy sour cherry

According to some sources this is among the varieties of sour cherry cultivated in the Carpathian Basin. The repute of Hungarian sour cherries is based on this variety. The fruit, which is large or very large (6 to 8 g) with an average diameter of 21 to 24 mm, ripens in the last ten days of June. The shape of the cherry is slightly flattened. Its deep red skin is medium thick. The dark red, medium hard flesh has a distinctive sour and sweet, pleasingly harmonious taste. Its stalk has medium length or long stipules that detach from the fruit dry when ripe, thus it can also be machine harvested. Its exceptionally good taste means it is worth cultivating and makes it sought after in domestic and foreign markets.

Kécske rose apricot

Its base colour is a light ochreous orange flushed with carmine on the back and sunny side. The flesh of this freestone apricot is dark orange, fibrous and succulent. It has a sweet, quintessential apricot aroma, and its skin is slightly tart.  Its leaves on the same tree vary from heart shaped to roundish. Its crown has weak or medium growth and is flattened. It is frost, disease and pest resistant.

 

source :

New stamps on farming …

 

Date of Issue : 20 March 2012

The bright yellow sunflower is native to North America and grown mainly in Queensland and New South Wales in Australia. Sunflower seed is a source of oil used for cooking, salads, paints and industrial lubricants. Non-oil varieties of sunflower are used as birdseed or roasted and eaten as a snack.

Hi ! Here is a wonderful set of five stamps issued by Australia Post on ‘Farming in Australia’ featuring cow rearing, fruit and flower cultivation in Australia. The stamps are so beautifully designed featuring fruits in the best possible view that it attracts a collector on the very first sight !! This stamp set is a nice collecting item for those collecting on fruits, flowers and cow breeds !!

 

The dairy industry is one of Australia’s major rural industries, ranking behind only beef and wheat. While all states and territories have dairy industries, most production occurs in the more temperate south-east areas of the country, and includes milk, yoghurts and a wide variety of cheese types. The most common dairy cow breeds are the Holstein Friesian and the Jersey.

 

The pineapple is a tropical fruit native to South America and in Australia grows best in tropical Queensland and northern New South Wales. Lutheran missionaries planted the fi rst crops in Brisbane in 1838 and the commercial industry was established in 1924. In 1946 canning plants were built at Rockhampton and Cairns.

 

Australia is consistently among the top 10 wine-growing countries in the world. Shiraz is the most produced variety, followed by chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon. The main wine-producing states are South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales, although Western Australia, Queensland, Tasmania and ACT also have wine industries.

The humble apple tree originated in Central Asia and is one of the most widely cultivated plants in the world. Of the many apple varieties in existence, around 15 are produced commercially in Australia, with Pink Lady^TM, Granny Smith, Gala and Sundowner^TM being the four most common. Victoria is Australia's leader in apple production and the market is primarily domestic, with the majority of fruit sold and consumed fresh.

Maxim Cards

My recent covers…

 

 Andrzej Bek, Nowy Sacz – Poland

Abhai Mishra, Dehradun

New special cover from Dehradun

 

Spring Festival, Dehradun : 3 March 2012

Phyunli (Reinwardtia indica)

 

HE Mrs Margaret Alva, Governor, Uttarakhand alongwith Major General (Retd.) BC Khanduri, Chief Minister, Uttarakhand released a special cover on Fyuli, a common yellow flower found abundant in hills, during the annual spring festival 3-4 March 2012 at Raj Bhawan, Dehradun, on 3-3-12.

Phyunli ( Reinwardtia indica )

 

: Abhai Mishra, Dehradun

Native Trees of New Zealand..

 

 

2012 New Zealand Native Trees

Date of Issue : 1 February 2012

Hi !

Here is a beautiful set of stamps issued by  New Zealand Post on February 1, 2012  featuring  five iconic native New Zealand trees. Each of the beautiful species is depicted in a detailed illustrative style and the scientific name of each species is included in the design . This is an awesome set of stamps on Flora ! Each stamp design has a very cool light color background that contrasts with the color of the flower giving a very attractive look to the stamps. The special feature of the stamps is that they give botanical details of the plant. This set is sure to be liked by Flora theme collectors as well as a general plant lover !! Kudos to the designer of this beautiful set !! This is all for Today….Till Next Post…Have a Great Time !!

 

FDC

New Zealand’s isolation from the rest of the world has allowed its unique flora to evolve and flourish, resulting in the distinctive array of native trees present today. This high degree of endemism makes New Zealand’s native trees truly special, so much so that Conservation International has recognised New Zealand as a world biodiversity hotspot. Almost all of New Zealand’s native species of conifers, flowering trees and tree ferns occur nowhere else – resulting in native forests like no other on Earth.

Miniature Sheet

The individual stamps in this issue are as follows:

60c - Pōhutukawa

The pōhutukawa is a species of Metrosideros, and is often referred to as the New Zealand Christmas tree due to its display of bright red, pollen-producing stamens in summer. The undersides of the leaves and flower buds are densely furry with white hairs. Although it is widely cultivated throughout the country, in nature it is restricted to the northern North Island, mostly in costal habitats.

$1.20 - Cabbage Tree

The cabbage tree (Cordyline australis) or tï kouka is found throughout New Zealand in moist soils and swamps. It is a tall, much-branched tree, and has long, narrow leaves with many parallel veins. The abundant small white flowers are attached to the branching stems of large inflorescences, and the fruits are white to purple berries.

  $1.90 - Kōwhai

The vibrant kōwhai tree is most conspicuous in spring, with its large golden-yellow flowers. Its flowers are bird pollinated and the petals are arranged in a sort of tube to contain a sufficient quantity of nectar. Sophora microphylla is widespread and grows near streams and at lake edges.

$2.40 - Nīkau

The nīkau (Rhopalostylis) is the furthest south palm in the Southern Hemisphere. It is impressive in height, and the top of the trunk is crowned by a spreading cluster of enormous leaves divided into leaflets. Flower clusters arise below the crown of leaves and form bright red berries. Where the nīkau is plentiful it gives the feeling of a tropical forest.

$2.90 - Mānuka

The mānuka (Leptospermum scoparium) is a widespread shrub that sometimes grows to a small tree. Its leaves are very small and quite sharply pointed, and it is abundant with small white flowers (although pink and red varieties are cultivated). The mānuka is well known for the dark, strong flavoured honey it produces.

: New Zealand Post

Daylilies from Canada…

 

 

Date of Issue : March 1, 2012

Two brilliant, colourful and exquisite daylilies (Hemerocallis) grace the seventh issue in Canada Post’s beloved flower series.

 

Daylilies

The Daylily (Hemerocallis) was long placed in the Lily family (Liliaceae), but is now considered to belong in the plant family Hemerocallidaceae. This term, from the Greek words meaning “beauty” and “day,” alludes to the fact that each flower lasts for just one day. Since there are many flower buds on each flower stalk and many stalks in each cluster, the overall flowering period is usually several weeks long. The flowers of most species open at sunrise and wither atsunset, often replaced by another on the same stalk the next day. Although not commonly used for arrangements, daylilies make good cut flowers, as new blossoms continue to open over several days.

Originally, daylilies could be found only in yellow, orange, and reddish-brown. Today, colours range from near-white, to yellow, orange, pink, red, purple, blue and more. While the roadside yellow or orange daylilies—known to hybridizers as Hemerocallis fulva (or Hemerocallis fulva Europa)—are forms of the cultivated types that ‘escaped’ and now grow wild, all modern daylilies have evolved through a complicated history of hybridization.

: Canada Post

Club News

Latest issue of Vadophil

Latest issue of Vadophil, Quarterly News Bulletin of Baroda Philatelic Society, edited by Prashant Pandya and Timir R Shah is available online.Special feature of this issue are Report on Gujpex 2011, Articles, & Auction.

View : Vadophil # 128-129 (Oct. 2011 / Jan 2012)

 

Search continues for secret stamp honoring John Glenn's historic spaceflight 

 

The 1962 4-cent "Project Mercury" stamp marked the first time that the U.S. issued a previously unannounced commemorative stamp at the same time as the event it was issued to honor: John Glenn’s historic Friendship 7 spaceflight.

 

4-cent 'Project Mercury' postage stamp sold in 1962 was a surprise

2/20/2012 10:43:38 AM ET

Fifty years ago today (Feb. 20), John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, relied on ground stations located across the planet to communicate with his control team. But after his Mercury spacecraft, Friendship 7, safely splashed down, it was another type of station that took over tracking his historic mission: U.S. post offices.

For the first and only time in the country's postal history, the United States Post Office Department — since 1971, the U.S. Postal Service — surprised the public with the release of a secret stamp celebrating Glenn's successful mission. The 4-cent "Project Mercury" postage stamp was revealed and immediately put on sale in 305 post offices within an hour of Glenn's triumphant return to Earth at 2:43 p.m. EST (1943 GMT) on Feb. 20, 1962.

Half a century later, collectors are still searching for those first-day-of-issue stamps.

"The U.S. Post Office Department signaled the first orbital flight of a United States astronaut today with the issuance of a commemorative stamp, placed on sale throughout the country on the exact hour Astronaut John Glenn's historic flight was officially completed," the department stated. "It is the first time in history that a previously unannounced commemorative stamp was issued simultaneously with the event it memorializes."

As news of the stamp spread over radio and television, the public began lining up at their closest post offices that had stock of the now no longer secret issue. Collectors in particular drove many miles to have their blank envelopes postmarked with the surprise stamp, creating a collectible for that first day's release and the historic space flight it honored.

Without a way to coordinate nationwide, collectors couldn't know however if such "first day covers" existed for all 305 stations. To this day, 50 years later, as many as 20 cities are still missing examples.  Read More…

: Hemant Kulkarni, Milwaukee USA

Golden Katar Philatelic Exhibition – 2012

 

: Dr Paresh Upadhyaya

Frangipani flowers on new Fiji stamps…..

 

Date of Issue : 12 July 2011

 

Frangipani are amongst the most colourful flowers known throughout the South Pacific

Frangipani flowers are known for their unique fragrant clusters of colorful, bright, waxy and long lasting flowers.The frangipani flower occurs as an introduced species in Fiji and is often extensively cultivated in towns and villages and naturalises along nearby streams. There are many forms of the species Plumeria rubra or frangipani with flowers observed throughout the year. Three of these have been formally documented as part of Fiji's flora. The stamp designs are based on water color paintings of the flowers. The actual flowers look as shown below.

Frangipani (Plumeria rubra), is  also known as the Hawaiin Lei flower.  Temple Tree, Champa, Dead man's fingers, Egg Flower (southern China) Amapola (Venezuela) are other synonyms of Frangipani. Plumeria or commonly known as Frangipani is a genus of flowering plants of the family that includes Dogbane: the Apocynaceae. It contains 7-8 species of mainly deciduous shrubs and small trees. They are native to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America as far south as Brazil but have been spread throughout the world's tropics.

 

Special Covers

Tamil Nadu

 

SIPA GOLD’ 06 : 29 December 2001

 

 

SIPA GOLD’06 : 30 December 2001 

: Ashwani Dubey - Gorakhpur

Endangered Wildlife species on new Japanese stamps..

 

"Japan Collection of rare wildlife -

The first series of harmony with nature."

Date of Issue : August 23, 2011

Japan Post will issue a beautiful set of stamps next month featuring endangered wildlife of Japan. On 15 July sheetlets of  different flowers of Japan were issued.

The designs of a postage stamps :
(1) Tsushima
Feline mammal that lives only in Tsushima, Estimated populations of the 1960s was head 250-300, now in decline due to habitat suitability for broad-leaved forest by felling head is 80-110.
(2) Zugurokamome
The birds of the gull family locally-distributed in East Asia. Growth in summer plumage (the collar) is characterized by black and white around the eyes in the head. China, a breeding ground and are said to reduce the loss factor of habitat suitability as one of the western coastal wintering grounds.
(3) Leavenworth lady slipper
Rebun Island in Hokkaido  is only growing in orchid plants. The flowers are pale yellow, the petals  is a large oval in the destination is characterized by short sharpen. Because of the high value horticulture and are collected too, is now distributed, and also has a limited number of individuals.
(4) Green Sea Turtle
The world's tropical, reptile department of the subtropical sea turtles are widely distributed .

(5) Oorurishijimi
Honshu, Japan is a unique subspecies of Lycaenidae only distributed in Kyushu.

 

"The Flower of home (flower of Japan's 47 prefectures)"

 

Date of Issue : July 15, 2011

Stamps on summer flowers by Danish Post

 

The red poppy

Date of issue: 8 June 2011

Danish Post issued a set of four stamps featuring four beautiful summer flowers on 8 June 2011. Stamps show red poppy, cranesbill, Masterwort and Siberian poppy.

Summer Flowers

The red poppy is easily recognised by its scarlet petals, which are loosely attached and fall off easily. Once the leaves have been shed, all that remains is the distinctive, egg-shaped capsule. It contains up to 20,000 seeds, which are spread over a large area when the wind shakes the dry plants.
The optimum germination conditions for the seeds are close to the surface of the soil, so autumn ploughing often brings large numbers of them to the surface after they have been lying dormant for years. The next year, the entire landscape is coloured bright red with a lovely carpet of poppies.

Cranesbill

The cranesbill, or geranium, is a herbaceous perennial often cultivated in Danish gardens and common in the wild. This popular plant is easy to look after and, to the delight of many gardeners, it attracts butterflies. Cranesbill takes its name from the shape of its pointed fruit. The fruit is in five sections and gathered in a long beak that splits into five flaps that curve upward in an explosive movement and eject the seeds.

Masterwort

Masterwort is a charming and slender perennial, and not particularly well known. With its beautiful umbel of star-shaped flowers, this decorative plant looks great in herbaceous borders or as a border plant. Masterwort belongs to the umbelliferae family, and has both edible and poisonous cousins. The benevolent side of the family includes dill and celery, while the malevolent side includes deadly, poisonous plants like cowbane and hemlock, as well as the allergenic giant hogweed.

Siberian poppy

The Siberian poppy is a popular and hardy ornamental plant well suited to herbaceous borders, rockeries and pots. As the name suggests, this species of poppy originates from Siberia. Curiously, it is also known as the Icelandic poppy – which is something of a mystery, as it does not grow in Iceland.