Updated March 7th:: The Scott Catalogue numbers for this issue are:

5042 (49¢) Botanical Art – Corn Lilies
5043 (49¢) Botanical Art – Tulips
5044 (49¢) Botanical Art – Tulips
5045 (49¢) Botanical Art – Dahlias
5046 (49¢) Botanical Art – Stocks
5047 (49¢) Botanical Art – Roses
5048 (49¢) Botanical Art – Japanese Irises
5049 (49¢) Botanical Art – Tulips
5050 (49¢) Botanical Art – Petunias
5051 (49¢) Botanical Art – Jonquils
a. Block of 10, #5042-5051
b. Convertible booklet pane of 10, #5042-5052
c. Convertible booklet pane of 20, 2 each #5042-5051
d. Imperforate block of 10
e. Imperforate booklet pane of 20

Updated January 12th:: The design of the Digital Color Postmark:It measures 2.99” x 1.36”. The “rubber” or black-and-white cancellation for this issue is the standard 4-bar FIRST DAY OF ISSUE postmark.

Updated January 6th::

On January 29, 2016, in Atlanta, GA, the U.S. Postal Service® will issue the Botanical Art stamps, (Forever® priced at 49 cents) in ten designs, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) double-sided booklet of 20, $9.80 (Item 680600) and a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) booklet of 10, $4.90 (Item 678700).

The stamps will go on sale nationwide January 29, 2016.

The U.S. Postal Service continues its tradition of beautiful floral-themed stamps with Botanical Art, in booklets of 10 and 20 stamps. The stamp art features ten different floral designs, each a detail of an illustration from an American nursery catalog printed between 1891 and 1912. The design details are courtesy of The New York Botanical Garden; the catalogs are part of NYBG’s Nursery and Seed Catalog Collection, one of the largest and most important such collections in the U.S. Art director Ethel Kessler designed the stamps.

How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark:
Customers have 60 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office, at The Postal Store® website at http://www.usps.com/shop, or by calling 800-782-6724. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:

Botanical Art Stamps
Atlanta MPO
Postmaster
3900 Crown Road
Atlanta, GA 30304-9998

After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service™ will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark up to a quantity of 50. There is a 5-cent charge for each additional postmark over 50. All orders must be postmarked by March 29, 2016.

There are seven philatelic products for this stamp issue:

• 680606 Press Sheet with Die-Cut, $78.40, (print quantity 300)
• 680608,Press Sheet without Die-Cut, $78.40, (print quantity 350)
• 680610 Digital Color Postmark Keepsake (random single), $11.95
• 680616 First-Day Cover (set of 10), $9.30
• 680621 Digital Color Postmark (set of 10), $16.40
• 680624 Framed Art, $29.95
• 680630 Ceremony Program (random single), $6.95

Technical Specifications:

Issue: Botanical Art
Item Number: 680600
Denomination & Type of Issue: First-Class Mail Forever
Format: Double-sided Booklet of 20 
(10 designs)
Series: N/A
Issue Date & City: January 29, 2016, Atlanta, GA 30303
Art Director: Ethel Kessler, Bethesda, MD
Designer: Ethel Kessler, Bethesda, MD
Typographer: Ethel Kessler, Bethesda, MD
Modeler: Joseph Sheeran
Manufacturing Process: Offset
Printer: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. (APU)
Printed at: Williamsville, NY
Press Type: Muller A76
Stamps per Booklet: 20
Print Quantity: 500,000,000 stamps
Paper Type: Nonphosphored Type III Block Tag applied
Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive
Processed at: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. (APU)
Stamp Orientation: Vertical
Image Area (w x h): 0.77 x 1.05 in./19.56 x 26.67 mm
Stamp Size (w x h): 0.91 x 1.19 in./23.11 x 30.23 mm
Full Booklet Size (w x h): 5.76 x 2.38 in./146.30 x 60.45 mm
Press Sheet Size (w x h): 23.04 x 4.76 in./585.22 x 120.90 mm
Colors: Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow
Plate Size: 880 stamps per revolution
Plate Numbers: “P” followed by four (4) single digits
Marginal Markings: Cover “Botanical Art” Twenty First-Class Forever Stamps • USPS Logo • Plate numbers in peel strip area • © 2015 USPS • “Design details courtesy of the New York Botanical Garden” in peel strip area • Promo-tional Text in peel strip area

Technical Specifications:

Issue: Botanical Art
Item Number: 678700
Denomination & Type of Issue: First-Class Mail Forever
Format: Booklet of 10 (10 designs)
Series: N/A
Issue Date & City: January 29, 2016, Atlanta, GA 30303
Art Director: Ethel Kessler, Bethesda, MD
Designer: Ethel Kessler, Bethesda, MD
Typographer: Ethel Kessler, Bethesda, MD
Modeler: Joseph Sheeran
Manufacturing Process: Offset
Printer: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. (APU)
Printed at: Williamsville, NY
Press Type: Muller A76
Stamps per Booklet: 10
Print Quantity: 100,000,000 stamps
Paper Type: Nonphosphored Type III Block Tag applied
Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive
Processed at: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. (APU)
Stamp Orientation: Vertical
Image Area (w x h): 0.77 x 1.05 in./19.56 x 26.67 mm
Stamp Size (w x h): 0.91 x 1.19 in./23.11 x 30.23 mm
Full Booklet Size (w x h): 1.82 x 6.37 in./46.23 x 161.70 mm
Colors: Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow
Plate Size: 520 stamps per revolution
Plate Numbers: “P” followed by four (4) single digits
Marginal Markings: Cover “Botanical Art” Ten First-Class Forever Stamps • USPS Logo • Plate numbers in peel strip area • “Design details courtesy of the New York Botanical Garden” • Purchasing Information • © 2015 USPS

Updated October 28th::
Names of the flowers on this issue:
Top row from left:

• Corn lilies
• Tulips
• Stocks
• Roses
• Petunias

Bottom Row from left:

• Tulips
• Dahlias
• Japanese Iris
• Tulips
• Daffodils and Jonquils

From the USPS:
The U.S. Postal Service continues its tradition of beautiful floral-themed stamps with Botanical Art, a booklet of 20 stamps featuring vintage illustrations taken from 19th- and early-20th-century plant and seed catalogs.

Beginning in the late 15th century, intrepid Europeans explored new lands in the Americas, the South Pacific, and other areas of the world. There they discovered plants unknown in Europe, which they imported for study and propagation. Scientists, gardeners, plant hunters, and collectors required accurate botanical drawings of the exotic new species. Botanical illustrators produced works that were meticulous and highly detailed and quite often beautiful pieces of art as well. The years 1750 to 1850 are considered the height of the botanical illustrator’s art.

The mid-19th century saw a flowering of another kind of botanical art. As more people discovered the joys of ornamental and recreational gardening, thriving commercial greenhouses and nurseries marketed plants — exotic as well as native — to eager gardeners. To entice buyers, the nurseries created colorful catalogs illustrated with beautiful blossoms and lush foliage. The illustrations were idealized, romantic versions of what plants could look like, but they fueled many a garden dream.

The stamp art features ten individual designs, each a detail of an illustration from an American nursery catalog printed between 1891 and 1912. The catalogs are part of The New York Botanical Garden’s Nursery and Seed Catalog Collection, one of the largest and most important collections in the U.S. The NYBG collection and similar collections in other institutions are treasure troves of historical information for scholars and scientists studying a wide range of subjects, including the history of botany, horticulture, commercial agriculture, landscape design, plant exploration, graphic arts, and publishing.

The artists responsible for the work seen on early nursery catalogs are mostly unknown to us now, but their captivating work lives on.

Art director Ethel Kessler of Bethesda, MD, designed the stamps.

from the USPS October 22, 2015: The Botanical Art stamp First-Day-of-Issue ceremony will take place January 29 at 11 a.m. at the American Philatelic Society’s AmeriStamp/Southeastern Stamp Expo. The show will be held at the Hilton Atlanta, 255 Courtland St. NE, Atlanta, GA 30303. The room for the ceremony will be announced at a later date.

From the USPS August 20, 2015:

10 designs.
FDOI: First Quarter
Format: Booklet of 20

This issuance continues the Postal Service™ tradition of beautiful floral-themed stamps.
The stamp art features ten different floral designs, each a detail of an illustration that appeared in an American nursery catalog between 1891 and 1912. The design details are courtesy of The New York Botanical Garden; the catalogs are part of the NYBG’s Nursery and Seed Catalog Collection, one of the largest and most important such collections in the U.S.

Existing Art: Details of cover illustrations from American nursery catalogs (1891-1912)
Art Director: Ethel Kessler