[from PostNL press materials] [click on any of the pictures for larger versions]
75 Years of Keukenhof on Flowery Stamps

Taken from Wikipedia: Literally “kitchen garden,” and also known as the Garden of Europe, it is one of the world’s largest flower gardens. Keukenhof Park covers an area of 79 acres and approximately 7 million flower bulbs are planted in the gardens annually. Keukenhof is widely known for its tulips, and it also features numerous other flowers, including hyacinths, daffodils, lilies, roses, carnations and irises.

On March 1, 1949, the beginning of the meteorological spring, it was decided to organize a flower exhibition. This is how the idea for Keukenhof came about. To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the popular spring park in Lisse, South Holland, PostNL is today issuing the ‘Keukenhof 75 years’ stamp sheet.

Keukenhof director Sandra Bechtholt received the first copy of the anniversary stamp from Noud Wegman, commercial director at the postal company. Bechtholt: “It will be a festive season with an anniversary exhibition and numerous other activities. Millions of photos are taken in the park for social media, but a postcard remains a beautiful thing to connect people. Such a handwritten greeting from Keukenhof is loved by international visitors, especially this spring with this anniversary stamp.”

“The park is a must-see destination in travel programmes. Eighty percent of Keukenhof’s visitors come from abroad,” said Annemarie Gerards-Adriaansens, Project Manager for Keukenhof’s 75th anniversary celebration. “It will be a special season, with an anniversary exhibition and all sorts of other activities.”

Spring flowers: tulip, iris and daffodil
Each stamp from the ‘Keukenhof 75 years’ stamp sheetlet had the same special shape of a stylized petal with a triangular base under a circular shape with serrations. The stamps depict various flowers as large as possible against a white background: a tulip, an iris and a daffodil. The arrangement of the stamps on the stamp sheet refers to the shape of a flower with 6 petals.

The design of the stamp sheet was created by graphic designer Maud van Rossum from Amsterdam. She reflected on the varied range of flowers on the stamps by depicting an orange-red tulip, a blue-purple iris and a yellow daffodil.

Combining flowers and stamps is not an unfamiliar concept to Van Rossum. Back in 2022, she designed the 200 Years of the Mauritshuis Museum stamps featuring paintings of famous floral still lifes. “Same subject, but from a completely different perspective,” says Van Rossum. “It needed to be a colourful, joyful, special design and I think we pulled it off.”

The background of the stamp sheet features a photo of a tulip field taken at knee height. “Bend down and lower your perspective so you’re not looking down on the flowers, but straight at them, and that opens up a whole new world,” says Van Rossum.

Availability
The ‘Keukenhof 75 years’ stamp sheet contains 6 stamps in 3 different designs, with the value indication international 1 for mail up to and including 20 grams with an international destination. The stamps will be available from March 1, 2024 at Bruna stores and via the webshop. The stamps can also be ordered by telephone from Collect Club customer service on telephone number 088 – 868 99 00. The validity period is indefinite. The price per sheet of 6 stamps is €10.50 (currently US$11.39). [2014 photo above: by Balou46]

Note: PostNL does not sell directly to collectors in North America. Its website refers to a company called Nordfirm, which says it sells Dutch new issues at face value. The Virtual Stamp Club has no connection to this company.