Vintage landscape: groundcover dreams

10 Groundcover Dreams, ca. 1912, via NasjonalbiblioteketBlue flowers (blå blomster) in Målselv, Troms, Norway,1912, an autochrome by Hanna Resvoll-Holmsen, via Nasjonalbiblioteket (National Library of Norway) Commons on flickr (all photos here).

Resvoll-Holmsem was a Norwegian botanist, natural history educator, and conservationist. She took these rather moody early color pictures for her research.

2 Groundcover Dreams, ca. 1912, via NasjonalbiblioteketFerns (bregner), 1912,  in Målselv, a municipality in the county of Troms in northern Norway.

9 Groundcover Dreams, ca. 1912, via NasjonalbiblioteketWild berries, in Målselv, 1912.

8 Groundcover Dreams, ca. 1912, via NasjonalbiblioteketWild berries, in Målselv, 1912.

3 Groundcover Dreams, ca. 1912, via NasjonalbiblioteketAntennaria alpina (alpine catsfoot) and Phyllodoce caerulean (mountain heath), July 27, 1911, in Lom, Oppland, in southern Norway.

11 Groundcover Dreams, ca. 1912, via NasjonalbiblioteketGentianella tenella (Lapland gentian) and Sagina nodosa (knotted pearlwort) in Lom, July 6, 1911.

5 Groundcover Dreams, ca. 1912, via NasjonalbiblioteketSedum villosum (hairy stonecrop), Lom, July 16, 1911.

6 Groundcover Dreams, ca. 1912, via NasjonalbiblioteketAconitum lycoctonum  (northern wolfsbane) and yarrow (tyrihjelm og ryllik i naturlige omgivelser),  in Lom, August 7, 1911.

12 Groundcover Dreams, ca. 1912, via NasjonalbiblioteketPedicularis lapponica (Lapland lousewort),  in Lom,  July 5, 1911.

7 Groundcover Dreams, ca. 1912, via NasjonalbiblioteketScrub vegetation, at Lom, July 25, 1911.

To scroll through larger versions of the photos, click on ‘Continue reading’ below.

Oh I think of Alice gone down, down
under groundcover dreams. . .

— John Unterecker, from “…Within, Into, Inside, Under, Within…

Vintage landscape: begonias

A little Monday morning pink and white…

Flowers in a Greenhouse, early 20 c., Te PapaFlowers in a greenhouse,” between 1900 and 1930, an autochrome by James W. Chapman-Taylor, via Te Papa Tongarewa (Museum of New Zealand)

Begonia House, c. 1913, via Te Papa“Begonia House, Domain Gardens, Auckland,” 1915, an autochrome by Robert Walrond, via Te Papa Tongarewa.

The irresistible and benevolent light
brushes through the angel-wing begonias. . .

The blooms are articulate deluge. . .

Elizabeth Woody, from “Illumination

Vintage landscape: brick walk

genthe autochrome, steps, via LoC
“Women on the steps of a multi-story white building with dark timbering,” between 1906 and 1942 (I think before 1920), an autochrome by Arnold Genthe, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

The small size of the digital copy of this image makes it difficult to be sure whether the walk areas are brick (like the steps). But I believe they are. (They could be something like decomposed granite.) I love how the tree has been preserved as part of the space.