Bold, bright, and beautiful, tulips are a standout in any garden. Their bulbs are planted in the fall and the flowers burst through the ground in spring, providing a welcome shock of color to mark the end of winter. The U.S. Postal Service features classic red tulips on this five-cent definitive stamp. It is being offered in panes of 20.
This stamp features five red tulip blossoms on a yellow-toned cream background. To create the image, photographer Harold Davis backlit the arrangement of flowers on a light box and combined multiple photographic exposures, resulting in a luminous, transparent look. He also scanned a sheet of aged paper and in post-production added the scan as a background to the floral image. The flowers were grown in his backyard in Berkeley, California.
Tulips are made up of six tepals, which come in two whorls of three petals and three sepals. The petals form a distinct cup or bell shape. While tulips are perennials and the bulbs can be left in the ground all year, it's common to remove the bulbs after they bloom and store them in a cool place for the hot summer months before returning them to the ground in the fall. The bulbs should be planted around six inches deep.
Tulips come in nearly every color except blue. Red tulips are said to signify love, making them a popular flower on holidays and for gifts.