Cultivar is a cultivated variety developed by selectively breeding in order to enhance or minimise traits common to other members of its species. Today’s gardeners owe much of their success to the availability of Australian cultivars. When selecting plants, modern gardeners look for more than just beauty. They demand plants that are hearty, disease resistant and easy to grow, no matter what colour their thumb.
Five Australian flower cultivars are featured in this special issue of five stamps.The stamps feature Simon Griffiths’ superb photographs of the five cultivars. Each of the cultivars was photographed at the peak of its blooming period.
The cultivars in the stamp issue were specifically bred to produce spectacular blooms on hardy, disease resistant plants suitable for home cultivation. All are entirely Australian bred, and are widely available through commercial nurseries. Three of the featured Australian cultivars are from introduced species, the remaining two are natives.
The ethereal ‘Hari Withers’ camellia was bred by Dr R M Withers of Victoria and named in honour of his wife. Flowers average nine cm in diameter and appear mid-season on a fastgrowing, upright and spreading plant.
Described as formal double in style, they are very pale pink gradating to a deeper pink rosebud at the centre. ‘Hari Withers’ was registered in 1985 and is a Camellia x williamsii hybrid.
