THE STAMPS IN DETAIL

The green-fingered monarch

King Charles lll has cultivated private gardens in three of his homes – Highgrove, Birkhall and Llwynywermod – as well as remodelling the gardens at Clarence House in London.

The King’s garden at Highgrove has been a crucible of things he holds dearly in the way of organic farming and gardening since he first bought it in 1980. It’s managed on sustainable principles and although it has been designed by leading garden experts, he’s been a hands-on gardener. Opened to the public in 1996, visitors can see how the King transformed a 15-acre plot into ‘garden rooms’, including the Sundial Room and the Cottage Garden, as well as a wildflower meadow, a Stumpery filled with ferns and an Arboreatum. The gardens at Highgrove feature compost heaps, a biomass boiler and a reed-bed sewage system, and create a biodiverse eco-system where wildlife can thrive.

At Birkhall, in the Balmoral estate in Scotland, King Charles has enhanced the existing gardens. At his Welsh retreat Llwynywerdmod, there are rustic gardens where Charles and Camilla are said to grow their own plants and vegetables, and at Clarence House in London, he has remodelled the gardens within their existing framework of ornamental trees, including a mulberry believed to date from the reign of King James I. In memory of his grandmother the Queen Mother, who lived there, the King designed a formal parterre, with boxed edged beds, near the main entrance.

Issue date: 23 March 2023

Number of stamps: Ten

Value of stamps: 10 x 1st class

Design: Charlie Smith designs Acknowledgements: Sweet pea © Jayar digital art/getty Images; iris © Mary Andrews/alamy Stock Photo; lily © Juan Carlos Juarez/alamy Stock Photo; sun flower © Brian Hagiwara/getty Images; fuchsia © scphoto/alamy Stock Photo; tulip © letty17/ Getty Images; peony © Lezh/getty Images; nasturtium © Rosemary Calvert/ Getty Images; rose © Rosemary Calvert/getty Images; dahlia © John Martin/ Garden World Images Ltd Stamp format: Square

Number per sheet: 25/50

Stamp size: 35mm x 35mm

Printer: Cartor Security Printers

Print process: Lithography

Performations: 14.5 x 14.5

Phosphor: Bars as appropriate

Gum: PVA

Also available: Presentation pack, first day cover; souvenir cover; framed set of stamps; first day cover handstamps