The beauty of flowers from American gardens are shown in the Flowers from the Garden Forever stamps. The four stamps feature still-life paintings of bountiful floral bouquets.

A species of peony that has been slow in rising to popularity in America is the tree peony. This Chinese native, also commonly referred to as Moutan, is thought to have been first discovered in an eastern province in the sixth century. It was used for medicinal purposes originally, long before it became a popular ornamental plant. It is a larger and woody relative of the much cherished herbaceous peony that graces many flower gardens.

The tree peony is distinguished most noticeably from a herbaceous peony by the fact that it retains a viable above-ground woody stem that remains after the flowers and branches have shriveled and dropped off the plant in preparation for winter: it is actually a medium-sized shrub. This woody stem should not be cut back in fall and should be pruned only if its shape is to be modified. The flower buds are much larger and flatter than those on the herbaceous peony, and are the same color as the leaves. They do not secrete honey on the bud tip. They bloom in late spring and early summer and make an excellent cut flower.

The tree peony is similar to the herbaceous peony in that it is available in single and double forms. It can reach five feet in height and almost as wide. The flowers of the tree peony, however, are usually much larger. It can be combined in the perennial border with other early bloomers like Siberian Iris (Iris sibirica), Basket-of-Gold (Aurinia), Globeflower (Trollius), Columbines (Aquilegia), Perennial Bachelor Button (Centaurea), Bleeding Heart (Dicentra), spring blooming Phlox (Phlox divaricata or P. subulata), and False Blue Indigo (Baptisia), among others, for a magnificent early season display. They also combine well with shrubs such as Lilac (Syringa), Japanese Quince (Chaenomeles) and Forsythia.