Plants of the world on postage stamps

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Hilary

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Re: Plants of the world on postage stamps
« Reply #810 on: December 13, 2018, 07:20:37 AM »
Christmas tree

A stamp issued for Christmas by Jersey in a three stamp series

The photo was taken in Elati Epirus in November 2017. I rather think this tree was in a garden

I didn’t imagine I would find a reference to Christmas trees in
THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN but there you are, surprises do happen.
Go to issue number 94, October 2018 and read
 A NATIVE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN by Heidi Gildemeister
MGS member
Living in Korinthos, Greece.
No garden but two balconies, one facing south and the other north.
Most of my plants are succulents which need little care

Hilary

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Re: Plants of the world on postage stamps
« Reply #811 on: December 14, 2018, 06:48:53 AM »
Ivy, Hedera

A stamp issued by the Royal Mail in 1980 in a five stamp series of Christmas stamps
The stamps were designed by Jeffery Matthews

The photo is of ivy trailing over a stone wall in Mystras
Ivy seems to be a useful plant for covering fences and walls

This plant is mentioned in THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 66, October 2011
 THE GARDEN OF MAS FLORIS CARTALONIA by Anda Wayland
MGS member
Living in Korinthos, Greece.
No garden but two balconies, one facing south and the other north.
Most of my plants are succulents which need little care

Hilary

  • Hero Member
Re: Plants of the world on postage stamps
« Reply #812 on: December 15, 2018, 08:45:37 AM »
Christmas rose, Hellebore niger

A stamp issued by Guernsey in 1978

Christmas roses do not feature in Greek Christmas customs or seasonal decorations. I was lucky enough to remember a plate someone gave me years ago which depicts Poinsettia and Christmas roses. Since I couldn’t decide which of the photos I took of the plate I decided to post both of them

 I was rather obsessed with this flower when we were planting the garden of the new house in the north east of England, in the 1960’s I desperately wanted Christmas roses and persuaded my father to buy some. Of course he was right they did not do well in our garden and I don’t think they ever produced a flower.

There are many references to Hellebores, if not this one specifically, in THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN SOCIETY‘s journal. I picked three from the long list of references to Hellebores in the index, and the three articles I skimmed, all equally interesting, happened to be about Australian gardens.
Read SANCTUARY by Mary Graham in THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 90, October 2017
MGS member
Living in Korinthos, Greece.
No garden but two balconies, one facing south and the other north.
Most of my plants are succulents which need little care

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Charithea

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Re: Plants of the world on postage stamps
« Reply #813 on: December 15, 2018, 09:55:39 AM »
Very colourful Hilary.  I like 'Christmas rose', too and we planted one in our tiny garden when we were living in Walthamstow  and it flowered Once.   We planted Helleboresfrom Greece here in Cyprus 3 years ago and they  did not survive the heat.  Ivy does not thrive here either.  We had one for a few years until it decided to died too.
I garden in Cyprus, in a flat old farming field, alt. approx. 30 m asl.

Hilary

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Re: Plants of the world on postage stamps
« Reply #814 on: December 16, 2018, 07:13:27 AM »
Mistletoe

A stamp issued by Guernsey for the Christmas holiday season in 1978 in a four stamp series designed by Jeffery Matthews

Mistletoe does not seem to feature in Greek seasonal decoration although when I first arrived in Greece there was always talk of ΟΥ, Holly and ΓΚΙ, mistletoe  at Christmas time. When I asked one of my friends in England if she had a photo of mistletoe in her archives she wrote back saying” No, take a photo of some plastic mistletoe”
Well plastic mistletoe being nonexistent in Corinth I did the next best thing and knitted some. What do you think? Does it look like mistletoe? Should I knit more with a different colour green and pearly beads or give up the idea of knitted mistletoe?

Mistletoe is mentioned as growing in the forest on Parnitha, one of the mountains surrounding Athens, in THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 75, January 2014.
Read THE 2013 AGM: ATTICA by Valerie Whittington
MGS member
Living in Korinthos, Greece.
No garden but two balconies, one facing south and the other north.
Most of my plants are succulents which need little care

*

Charithea

  • Hero Member
Re: Plants of the world on postage stamps
« Reply #815 on: December 16, 2018, 08:02:20 AM »
Hello Hilary. What a champion you are. I think green and pearls would look more festive!!!
I garden in Cyprus, in a flat old farming field, alt. approx. 30 m asl.

Hilary

  • Hero Member
Re: Plants of the world on postage stamps
« Reply #816 on: December 17, 2018, 08:34:47 AM »
Solanum

A stamp designed by Jeffery Matthews and issued by Guernsey in 1978

I think many of us have heard about THE HOLLY AND THE IVY but never THE HOLLY AND THE SOLANUM. When did solanum become a winter decoration? In olden times people went out into the woods to collect greenery and berries to decorate their houses in these dark winter days around the winter solstice. I don’t imagine there was any solanum around to collect in the northern hemisphere. Well with that little rant over I must say the red berries do look cheerful

The photo was taken in a friend’s garden this summer and the plant was identified by this Forum as Capsicum frutescens, Wiri Wiri

 Now to find a reference in THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN. I couldn’t find a reference in the journal to this solanum, I didn’t look too hard, as I think this particular one, used for winter decoration is a house plant. Go to issue number 15 to read
 ON THE SUBJECT OF BOTANICAL NAMES  by Pierre Cuche  where the name of Solanum  mauritianum is discussed.

MGS member
Living in Korinthos, Greece.
No garden but two balconies, one facing south and the other north.
Most of my plants are succulents which need little care

Hilary

  • Hero Member
Re: Plants of the world on postage stamps
« Reply #817 on: December 18, 2018, 07:07:32 AM »
Dove

Australia issued a set of three stamps for Christmas in 2015. Two of the stamps depict Doves

Looking around the house I found any amount of doves here and there.
This tiny brass dove, about the size of a   walnut, sits on the spice rack.

Doves are mentioned occasionally in THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN
 For you to read today I chose 
A CALIFORNIAN AT SPAROZA by Lucas Carlow
 in number 97, January 2017
MGS member
Living in Korinthos, Greece.
No garden but two balconies, one facing south and the other north.
Most of my plants are succulents which need little care

Hilary

  • Hero Member
Re: Plants of the world on postage stamps
« Reply #818 on: December 19, 2018, 08:15:17 AM »
Metrosideros fulgens, RATA, The New Zealand Christmas Tree

A stamp issued by New Zealand in 1960

I found this link a while ago which explains the difference between Metrosideros fulgens, RATA and Metrosideros excelsa , POHUTUKAWA

https://www.doc.govt.nz/Documents/about-doc/concessions-and-permits/conservation-revealed/rata-pohutukawa-lowres.pdf

Browsing through THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 13, Summer 1998
I came across an article devoted to POHUTUKAWA: METROSIDEROS EXCELSA
By Hamish Warren
MGS member
Living in Korinthos, Greece.
No garden but two balconies, one facing south and the other north.
Most of my plants are succulents which need little care

Hilary

  • Hero Member
Re: Plants of the world on postage stamps
« Reply #819 on: December 20, 2018, 08:02:01 AM »
Euphorbia pulcherrima, Poinsettia

This stamp was issued by Bermuda in 1970. There are 17 stamps in the series named FLOWERS

At this time of year there are Poinsettias for sale in all the flower shops and this is one we had in our home in December 2016. So far I have resisted buying one this year.

Poinsettias are mentioned in several issues of THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN and today I have chosen number 89, July 2017 for you to read
RETIREMENT – WHAT IS THAT EXACTLY? By John Joynes where he mentions “ replacement plants for dead and dying pelargoniums, poinsettias etc. ”  which were growing in containers in public areas of his village
MGS member
Living in Korinthos, Greece.
No garden but two balconies, one facing south and the other north.
Most of my plants are succulents which need little care

*

John J

  • Hero Member
Re: Plants of the world on postage stamps
« Reply #820 on: December 20, 2018, 08:33:16 AM »
Hilary, we too always resist buying a Poinsettia at this time of year. This is partly due to a visit I paid many years ago to a wholesale nursery in UK that produced thousands of these plants for sale at Christmas. They fed them a growth retardant in an effort to keep them all the same size for shipping off to the retailers. Once they no longer received this, and had been sold on to the public they obviously reverted to normal and began to grow leggy and less attractive. After the festivities were over many found their way to the trash or the compost heap.
One of the other things about this nursery that I found interesting was the staff they recruited to do the everyday watering of the plants. Each of thousands of pots had to be watered individually and by hand. This task was carried out by a team of workers, all of whom suffered from General Learning Disabilities. They were taught how much water to give to each pot while at the same time inspecting the plant for any signs that it may not be growing correctly, in which case they pointed it out to a supervisor. This raised certain points about whether or not this was a case of exploitation. These people, who many considered to be unemployable, had a job and were paid the going rate for it, a job that was so repetitive and boring that no-one else wanted it. It gave them a purpose, they had somewhere to go each day instead of being at home with nothing to do. They could interact with others. They were contributing to the family income. As I said this was many years ago and I have no idea if this nursery still exists or still follows the same employment principal in these days of Political Correctness, etc.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

Hilary

  • Hero Member
Re: Plants of the world on postage stamps
« Reply #821 on: December 21, 2018, 07:14:29 AM »
Mistletoe

A stamp designed by Jeffery Matthews and issued by the Royal Mail in 1980

After my last desperate attempt at knitting mistletoe, which has now caused an intercontinental discussion about the colour of the yarn I used, it is olive green but the photo makes it look pale blue. I quickly knitted some more in lime green. I hope the new edition meets your expectations 
 
To learn where you can see some mistletoe go to THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 53, July 2008 and read EMBRACING MEDITERRANEAN FLORA IN VITERBO by Helene Pizzi
MGS member
Living in Korinthos, Greece.
No garden but two balconies, one facing south and the other north.
Most of my plants are succulents which need little care

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Alisdair

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  • Hero Member
Re: Plants of the world on postage stamps
« Reply #822 on: December 21, 2018, 09:15:10 AM »
Wow, what a brilliant match (and I'm glad you couldn't match the colour exactly - I don't think mistletoe really could claim to be much of an inspiration for good wool colours, as surely it's a bit on the sickly side in real life)
Alisdair Aird
Gardens in SE England (Sussex); also coastal Southern Greece, and (in a very small way) South West France; MGS member (and former president); vice chairman RHS Lily Group, past chairman Cyclamen Society

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Charithea

  • Hero Member
Re: Plants of the world on postage stamps
« Reply #823 on: December 21, 2018, 11:02:09 AM »
Bravo Hilary. It certainly looks festive. I like it very much but I am not getting my knitting needles out.
I garden in Cyprus, in a flat old farming field, alt. approx. 30 m asl.

Hilary

  • Hero Member
Re: Plants of the world on postage stamps
« Reply #824 on: December 22, 2018, 07:10:06 AM »
Christmas tree issued by the Royal Mail in 1980
There are five stamps in the series

Since I was running out of photos of Christmas trees in the wild we went to the local plant nursery where they were selling a few cut trees

I have no idea which fir tree this is but I thought you might like to read about a hillside garden near Athens
THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 88, April 2017
KAISARIANI AND THE FILODASSIKI BOTANICAL GARDEN  by Jennifer Gay
MGS member
Living in Korinthos, Greece.
No garden but two balconies, one facing south and the other north.
Most of my plants are succulents which need little care