Plants of the world on postage stamps

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John J

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Re: Plants of the world on postage stamps
« Reply #870 on: March 04, 2019, 10:58:47 AM »
I'm with you, Alisdair, it was a new one to me too. However, I do like their motto that translates as; "If we stand together and work hard we will be blessed with rain". Possibly a lot of other countries could adopt it as well!
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 #871 on: March 04, 2019, 11:27:28 AM »
I am so glad you looked it up.
One of my friends told me I had made a mistake !

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 #872 on: March 05, 2019, 08:40:48 AM »
Eryngium maritimum, Sea Holly

A stamp issued by Germany in 1963, there are four stamps in this series.

Sea Holly grows in sandy places near the sea. We saw it at the edge of a beautiful white pebbly beach at Maroneia, Rodopi.
The photos are of the beach and the Sea Holly growing at the edge.

Eryngium maritimum is mentioned in several issues of
 THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN
I chose number 21, July 2000 for you to read
WINDBREAK HEDGES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN: PART 1 by Piero Caneti
Eryngium maritimum is in a list of plants to  use to stabilize sand banks
« Last Edit: March 05, 2019, 10:16:21 AM by Alisdair »
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

Caroline

  • Full Member
Re: Plants of the world on postage stamps
« Reply #873 on: March 05, 2019, 09:32:57 PM »
Ah yes, Bophutatswana was one of the bantustans set up in the days of apartheid. Not recognised by any other government, and nothing more than a glorified  - and poverty-stricken - reservation on which the"problem" was out of sight. I didn't know that they actually issued stamps, though.
I am establishing a garden on Waiheke Island, 35 minutes out of Auckland. The site is windy, the clay soil dries out quickly in summer and is like plasticine in winter, but it is still very rewarding. Water is an issue, as we depend on tanks. I'm looking forward to sharing ideas. Caroline

Hilary

  • Hero Member
Re: Plants of the world on postage stamps
« Reply #874 on: March 05, 2019, 10:47:36 PM »
I have just had a quick look at the catalog Bophuthatswana appears to have issued stamps from December 1977 up to Easter 1994
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 #875 on: March 06, 2019, 08:23:40 AM »
Muscardinus avellanarius, Common Dormouse

This stamp was issued by the Royal Mail in a 6 stamp series, named Endangered Species, in 1998.

I have never seen a Dormouse but I know there was one at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party. I quote

 
Quote
“There was a table set out under a tree in front of the house, and the March Hare and the Hatter were having tea at it: a Dormouse was sitting between them, fast asleep, and the other two were using it as a cushion, resting their elbows on it, and talking over its head”

Now, a few weeks after I wrote the above  I found the same quotation in the presentation pack. There is also  more information about the Dormouse in the presentation pack which I had neglected to read


Looking in the index to THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN I came across one reference to a dormouse in
 BRAC: A STONY ISLAND by Julie-Amadea Pluriel
However the Dormouse mentioned in this article is Glis glis, the Edible Dormouse 
Journal number 83, January 2016.
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 #876 on: March 07, 2019, 07:04:25 AM »
Leontopodium alpinum , Edelweiss

A stamp issued by Romania in an eight stamp series in 1957
 NAMED CARPATHIAN MOUNTAIN FLORA.

I think I have used all the postcards etc. which I possess which depict the Edelweiss so no photo today.

Edelweiss is mentioned a couple of times in THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN but both times as living in colder climes to the one we are dealing with here.
However, I am sure you are all waiting to hear what you are to read today so go to THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 44 April 2006, page 66 where John Joynes writes about Cyprus endemics

 and number 73, July 2013 where Renate Schaeffer – Low writes
 HOW I CAME TO LOVE GARDENING

Both articles mention Edelweiss in passing
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 #877 on: March 08, 2019, 06:20:49 AM »
Musa acuminata

A stamp issued along with another eight, all depicting edible fruit, by the
 REPUBLIQUE  FEDERALE  DU CAMEROUN  in 1967.

Apparently this banana is native to south east Asia but is the banana we all eat today

“ a tall crowd of Musa or banana plants” is mentioned by Virginia Scaretti in
THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN
number 55 ,January 2009 in A HANDSOME TOWN GARDEN IN ROME
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 #878 on: March 13, 2019, 08:24:50 AM »
Gryllus campestris, Field Cricket

The Royal Mail issued a 10 stamp series featuring ENDANGERED INSECTS of the UK in 2008

I ll be posting a scan of the stamp and a scan of part of the information leaflet from the presentation pack, which was sent to me  by my friend Helen in Scotland.

Since I don't have photos of insects I won't be adding my photos to these posts
Anyone wanting to add their photos is very welcome

Looking through one of the files/scrapbooks  I made years ago with souvenirs of Greece, postcards, old Easter cards, leaflets. stamps and pressed flowers, I came across this card depicting wild flowers of Greece and a  cricket.
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 #879 on: March 13, 2019, 08:47:21 AM »
I have just realized that I hadn't finished the blurb I wrote about the cricket. I usually find a reference to the subject of the post in THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN but this time I forgot. As far as I can see there are many references to insects good or bad, beneficial or dangerous, in the journal but none about crickets.

What is more I have no idea if crickets are regarded as beneficial or dangerous
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 #880 on: March 14, 2019, 07:12:41 AM »
Lavandula veris, Lavandula angustifolia, Lavender

A stamp issued by Yugoslavia in 1959 in a nine stamp series named
 LOCAL FLORA.

The photo was taken of mass planting of Lavender at Mare West, a shopping Mall outside Corinth.

Just to remind you of the children's nursery rhyme this scan is from my children's Nursery Rhyme book which was already second hand when we got it in the 1960’s   

Lavandula is mentioned in Freda Cox’s article about pests in the garden
GUILTY OR NOT GUILTY? In THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN
number 92, October 2018
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 #881 on: March 14, 2019, 07:24:24 AM »
Correction
The article GUILTY OR NOT GUILTY   by Freda Cox is in the journal of October 2018, number 94
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 #882 on: March 15, 2019, 07:00:58 AM »
Malus domestica

New Zealand issued this stamp in 1968   in a series named
LOCAL MOTIFS- EXPORTS
This stamp depicts an apple and an apple orchard.

Recently we were given a few apples by a farmer so I immediately polished them and took their photo, and then I remembered a photo a friend once sent me of an apple orchard in blossom in a village named Manna [Markesi] in Orini Korinthia. Now the stamp, photo of the apples and photo of the orchard all come together.

P.S. Markesi is a Turkish word and means the eyebrows of Maria. It is thought the village took its name from the silhouette of the mountains near the village
 
Malus is mentioned in several issues of THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN
Today read all about PHYTOPHTHORA by Jennifer Gay in number 76, April 2014.
Malus is in a list of plants commonly affected by this disease
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 #883 on: March 17, 2019, 06:47:29 AM »
Tagetes patula, French Marigold

This self-adhesive stamp along with another one was issued by Belgium in 2008

The photo is of French Marigolds and Verbena at the Monastery of Molivdoskepasti, on the border of Greece with Albania, in November 2017. 

Tagetes patula are mentioned by Frances Shaw in the article OLD WAYS in
 THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 80, April 2015.
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 #884 on: March 27, 2019, 06:42:08 AM »
Prunus domestica, Plum tree

 This stamp was issued by Lebanon in 1962

Although I have never seen a yellow plum I thought I would post the photo of the stamp today.

One of my friends planted seeds and stones from various fruit trees in 2004 to celebrate the Olympic Games which were held in Greece that year.

The stone from a plum sprouted and now is a tall tree providing a large quantity of fruit every year.

As requested my friend took photos of the tree in blossom, in mid-March, and even caught a bee visiting one of the flowers

In THE MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN number 42, October 2005 Prunus trees are mentioned in THE LOST WORLD OF THE VILLA LOU SUEIL
 by Kathryn Bradley-Hole
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