Peony Partnership

‘Cytherea’ flower stamp held next to the real-life peony flower growing at the Ottawa Central Experimental Farm.
©Canada Post

In Ottawa and across the country, Canadians hold a special place in their hearts and gardens for the magnificent peony. And no wonder – peonies return reliably year after year, putting on a dazzling show with massive, fragrant blooms that come in a wide variety of colours and shapes. But perhaps the clincher for Canadians is that peonies just love a good, cold winter.

There is a good reason why peonies are so well-suited to our cold climate: the long legacy of world-class scientific research at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC).

This year, peony fans have special reason to celebrate, because Canada Post and AAFC have teamed up for the release of the 2025 flower stamps, which feature two Canadian peony varieties developed by Canadian horticulturalists: ‘Cytherea’ and ‘Marie-Victorin.’

Named after the founder of the Montreal Botanical Garden, Marie-Victorin was propagated by horticulturalist Lindsay D’Aoust from seedlings from Quebec peony breeder Maurice Ménard. One of the famous “Saunders Hybrids” developed by AAFC researcher A.P. (Percy) Saunders, Cytherea is a cherry-rose-coloured semi-double flower -- having two or more rows of petals.

A Peony pioneer

A global giant in peony breeding, Percy Saunders was born in London, Ontario, in 1869. He learned the art of plant hybridization from his father William Saunders, founder of Ottawa’s Central Experimental Farm. The Saunders family made many contributions to Canadian agriculture, including the development of a new line of early-ripening Marquis wheat, bred by Percy’s brother Charles in 1907. In fact, it was Percy himself who cross-fertilized the two wheat varieties that his brother would go on to select as the Marquis B strain, parent to nearly every modern wheat cultivar grown today.

Percy was a trailblazer in plant genetics. Rather than following the common practice of saving seeds from naturally pollinated plants in the hopes of discovering a promising new variety, he believed that “the only hope of success lies in a most careful selection of seed parents, or in cross-fertilization by hand.”

Using this painstaking method, Percy gave gardeners over 160 hardy and reliable peony varieties in striking colours and shapes that stayed in bloom up to 3 weeks longer.

A national treasure

Today, over 105 “Saunders peonies” grow in the Central Experimental Farm Ornamental Gardens, bringing history to life every year for thousands of visitors. The Ornamental Gardens boasts one of the largest peony collections in North America, with over 400 varieties lovingly tended by AAFC staff and the dedicated team of volunteers from Friends of the Farm.

The two peony varieties displayed on this year’s annual flower stamps, designed by Stéphane Huot, were grown and photographed at the Ornamental Gardens, continuing a longstanding partnership between Canada Post and AAFC.

‘Marie-Victorin’ flower stamp held next to a real-life peony flower growing at the Ottawa Central Experimental Farm.
©Canada Post

The flower stamps are an annual tradition that has become a favourite for newlyweds to beautify their wedding invitations. Every year, the stamps feature a flower of national significance.

In 2011, AAFC staff at the Central Experimental Farm worked with designers at Canada Post to select and grow 2 varieties of sunflower that would show well on a printed stamp. The celebrated sunflower stamp, the national flower of Ukraine, was reissued in 2022 as a fundraiser for the Canada-Ukraine Foundation. The 2021 flower stamp featured a variety of flowering crabapple bred by another legendary AAFC plant breeder, Isabella Preston. Last year, two wildflowers were selected for their vital role as food sources for pollinators.

This year’s flower stamps featuring the peony celebrate Canadian history and science, and Jeremy DiZazzo, the Central Experimental Farm’s Chief of Grounds Maintenance, is proud to be a part of it. “It is such a privilege to participate in the preservation and maintenance of living history,” says Jeremy. “This collaboration exemplifies what is rendered from the contributions of public servants from different sectors and volunteers with exceptional knowledge and skills to highlight and display treasures that belong to all Canadians.”