This year’s issue in the annual Flower series includes two stamps featuring the elegant peonies 'Cytherea' and 'Marie-Victorin.' Both were developed by Canadian-born horticulturists and are well suited to the climate in parts of Canada.

Known for their showy blooms, peonies are popular perennials in many private and public ornamental gardens in Canada and elsewhere around the world.

Good to know

The annual flower issue is a best-seller, primarily for its use on wedding stationery, including invitations.
Canada Post has issued pairs of commemorative stamps featuring flowers each year since 2007.
Flowers have also been featured on past issues of definitive stamps and other commemorative stamp issues, including Gardens (2006) and Tulips (2002).

About the issue

This year’s issue in the annual Flower series features two elegant peonies: 'Cytherea' and 'Marie-Victorin.'

About the peonies

Laden with luxurious, delicately perfumed blossoms so large they often require support, peonies are perennial showstoppers. In late spring, their golf-ball-sized buds burst into extravagant bloom, creating a dazzling display in ornamental gardens. Most of today’s cultivars trace their roots to China, where the genus Paeonia has flourished for more than 4,000 years.

This year’s Flower stamps feature two elegant hybrids developed by Canadian-born horticulturists and well suited to the climate in parts of the country. Named after the Greek goddess of love, 'Cytherea' is a cherry rose “semi-double” – meaning that it has two or more rows of petals. It was registered in 1953 by Arthur Percy Saunders, one of the most accomplished peony hybridizers of the 20th century and son of William Saunders, the first director of Canada’s Central Experimental Farm.

'Marie-Victorin' was first propagated in 2004 by Lindsay D’Aoust, who purchased a collection of seedlings grown by Quebec peony breeder Maurice Ménard. A symmetrical, globe-shaped flower composed of a single row of rounded, pale pink petals with purple-pink flares, it was named for Brother Marie-Victorin (1885-1944), founder of the Montréal Botanical Garden.

The OFDC is cancelled in Ottawa, Ontario. The cancel location was chosen because it is home of the Central Experimental Farm peony collection, where the flowers were photographed.

The cancel image is a line drawing of a peony.

About the design

The front of the OFDC features the photograph from the 'Cytherea' stamp, with additional blossoms visible, and a line drawing of a peony by Simon Bousquet.

The back of the OFDC features photographs of peony breeders Arthur Percy Saunders, Maurice Ménard and Lindsay D’Aoust.

Product # 414281131

Peonies 2025 Official First Day Cover