What Grows in Your Garden of Love?

What defines a romantic garden for you? There are almost as many answers as there are gardens. Some people envision a cottage-style garden, informal in design with dense plantings and old-fashioned flowers. Others think of fragrance gardens, filled with flowering plants and herbs that intoxicate the senses. Formal gardens, with their well-ordered designs, symmetrical paths, and geometrical plantings, appeal to others. But what kind of garden do you think the artist had in mind when creating the 2011 Love stamp, Garden of Love?

GardenLove-Forever-block-BGv1Lush with green leaves and bright blossoms, illustrator José Ortega‘s vision was a fantasy garden, where hearts, subtly interwoven among the foliage, seem to bloom along with the flowers. “Garden of Love depicts the abundance of life, its generosity, whose spirit is to be shared by all its creatures,” says Ortega. “Love’s definition is broader than romantic love. Love is that colorful, full feeling you get when you enjoy being a part of and sharing in the generosity of life.”

Garden of Love was the first Love stamp to be issued in a block of ten designs and the first to bear the Forever® denomination.

SealedwithLove-2013-Forever-single-BGv2The 2013 Love stamp, Sealed with Love, was issued last month, and tonight (February 12) we are joining More Love Letters from 8 p.m.-10 p.m. (EST) for an online “Sealed with Love” social party. Come take part and fill your evening with letter writing, giveaways (!), and goodwill. You can follow along on the and on Twitter. We’ll be tweeting from all night and you can click into all the fun through #sealedwithlove. Get your stamps and envelopes ready. We hope to “see” you all there!