Today, March 16 2006, Canada Post has released four stamp designs on Gardens. Specifically, these designs commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Ontario Horticultural Association. The format of these stamps are a PSA booklet of 8 (four designs). The unveiling of the four 51-cent stamps (domestic rate) will be at the Successful Gardening Show Stamp, in Ontario’s International Centre. Designer Debbie Adams will be signing first editions from 1:00pm – 2:00pm that day.
The Ontario Horticultural Association (OHA) has a robust history of service. Not long after the association’s inception, in 1906, OHA oversaw the restoration of many abandoned cemeteries. During WWI, OHA efforts included caring for the Victory Gardens on vacant lands in Toronto and the distribution of seeds to prisoners of war for their green vegetables. The OHA was also invlolved in the selection of the Trillium grandflorum as Ontario’s official flower. After WWII, the OHA lobbied for legislation to stop the proliferation of billboards along provincial highways. Over their 100 year span, the OHA has provided seeds to areas of Canada that have been ravaged by fire, flood and drought. Today’s 40,000 member volunteers continue with improvements to urban landscapes, provide a helping hand for seniors, and plant wild flowers by roadsides and trees in river valleys.
