Most people agree that change is healthy. Years ago, before it was even in vogue, Winston Churchill said, "To improve is to change. To be perfect is to change often." Not a lot of gray area there.

The constant change we experience today made me wonder about the flip side. Truth be told, there are more than a few things that don't need to be changed and others that can't be.

The moon and stars look the same as they did a million or so years ago. No need to tweak those (and good luck trying). I'm pretty sure the Grand Canyon is doing just fine and the pyramids look very nice after thousands of years. They're a tad rough now, but I don't think a skim coat of spackle limestone to make them smooth would be an improvement.

Perhaps the best examples are flowers. They're the ideal constant — beautiful, pleasing and the same as they've always been since long before people began keeping horticultural records.Those who plant gardens fill them with the natural attractions that enchant everyone and even foster a bit of envy among the few who just can't seem to master a green thumb.

Not surprisingly, flower gardens are another casualty of our age. Flowers are real, not virtual or digital. That may actually make growing them confusing to some. Judging from what I used to see — and grow myself in my youth — there aren't as many gardens as there once was.

That aside, a refreshingly continual aspect of springtime is the emergence of flower packets in stores. If we have fewer gardens today, it's not for a lack of product. We see the racks of seed packets now in everything from supermarkets to big box retailers. That wasn't always the case. Dial the clock back 50 or 100 years and those coveted seed packs were found only in garden supply stores and, if you were lucky, a corner market.

You could say the appearance of the colorful seed packs emblazoned with the flowers they promised to grow were akin to Christmas tree lots opening in December. Whether you saw that holiday lot of trees or a rack of seed packets it was clear a new and exciting season was beginning.

I'm giving the Postal Service big credit for fostering unbridled nostalgia with the issuance of a new set of stamps recalling flower seed packs from many years ago. The pictures on the packets were the result of chromolithography — a process invented in the 1800s that allowed for mass multi-color printing. The illustrations on the new stamps originally were on flower seed packets printed between 1910 and 1920.

The reproductions of the seed packets will evoke reminiscence among those with good memories when even the smallest gardens were commonplace and grown from scratch. The flowers on the 20-stamp booklet include a trio of cosmos — yellow, pink and coral digitalis, primrose flowers with orange centers, orange calendula, aster blooms, two shades of pinks dianthus, linum blossoms, white drifts of alyssum, clusters of phlox and multicolored zinnias.

The stamps have a face value of 46 cents but fall under the "Forever" category so they will always be valid for First Class Mail. The double-sided booklet of 20 stamps costs $9.20.

Special First Day of Issue cancels on the stamps are available through June 5. To obtain one, purchase the stamps at a local post office and affix one or more to self-addressed envelopes. Send that (or those) inside of a separate mailing envelope to: Vintage Seed Packets Stamp, U.S. Postal Service, 3190 S. 70th Street, Room 503, Philadelphia, PA 19153-9500.

Specially canceled envelopes will be returned through the regular mail. There is no charge for the postmark up to a quantity of 50. For more than 50, customers must pay 5 cents each.

With the money you save when you order less than 50, why not take it and buy a packet of seeds. The contents are one of the few things that haven't changed and don't need to.

Editor's Note: A JPEG visual of the Zinnia Seed Packet Stamp has been sent with this column.

To find out more about Peter Rexford and features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.