The Hague, 25 February 2019. They are delicate plants, often with soft colours, which mainly bloom in spring: exotics. Originally they did not come from our country, but they have since acquired a firm spot in Dutch nature. Ten of these exotics have now been depicted on stamps by PostNL.
Exotics are plants that used to be planted as ornamental plants on country estates, in monastery gardens and in the grounds of manor houses. These later feral plants are often spring bloomers with striking colourful flowers.
The 'Experience Nature - Exotics' stamp sheetlet was designed by graphic designer Frank Janse from Gouda. His concept focuses on the sensory and associative aspects of experiencing nature. Janse: "They are all beautiful, high-quality photos. But I didn't want to limit myself to beautiful pictures of beautiful flowers. The bulbs and tubers also had to make an appearance. For this I edited old botanical drawings, depicting the plant from head to toe - from bulb or tuber to stem, leaves and flowers."
With the new stamps, PostNL shines a spotlight on the diversity of nature in our country. "It's much greater than we sometimes realise at first," says Stephan van den Eijnden, PostNL's commercial director for Mail. "These exotics are a good example. Some of them we all know, such as the snowdrop or the lesser celandine. Others are much more modest and we only notice them if we are looking out for them. Now that they are in bloom, you have the best chance of seeing them!"
After mammals (2 January) and exotics (25 February), PostNL will release another two other stamp sheetlets in the 'Experience Nature' series, with butterflies, trees and leaves taking the spotlight. All of the photos on the stamps are from Buiten-Beeld, the Dutch image database for nature photography. An individual 'Experience Nature' stamp sheetlet costs €8.70. The complete series costs €34.80, including a storage folder.
The 'Experience Nature - Exotics' stamp sheetlet consists of ten different stamps marked with ‘Nederland 1’, the denomination for items up to 20g in weight destined for mail in the Netherlands. The stamps are available from 25 February 2019 from all PostNL sales points, the post office counter in Bruna stores and online at postnl.nl/bijzondere-postzegels. The stamps can also be ordered by phone from the Collect Club customer service on telephone number +31 (0)88 - 868 99 00. The validity period is indefinite.