It’s usually right about this time of year when I start pining for warmer weather and fresh, local fruit. This may have something to do with my California roots. My family always had fruit trees, including varieties of orange, such as the one you see below. There were only a few months out of the year when none of our trees bore ripe fruit.
This stereograph view brings to mind memories of driving through this part of Southern California, and of the pleasant aroma of orange blossoms that would waft through the windows.
Thriving Italian lemon trees in the photochrom print below offer a reminder that citrus trees like temperate climates.
The flat terrain and surrounding bodies of water suggested to me that the orange grove in the below image might be situated in Florida. A subject heading and reference to a more fully described black-and-white version of the image in the online catalog record confirms that we are looking at a scene in Orlando.
In addition to showing picturesque scenes, some of the Prints & Photographs Division’s horticulture-focused images offer insight into the nuts and bolts of agricultural production, such as this image, made by the Photo Department of the American Colony in Jerusalem, of a man pruning trees.
Whether you are interested in horticulture, or simply enjoy idyllic scenes, there is plenty more for you to explore using the links below.
Learn More:
- Explore the Detroit Publishing Company Collection, which supplied several of the images used in this post.
- View additional agriculture-focused images related to the American Colony in Jerusalem.
- See more images featuring orchards.