Vintage Garden-Themed Postcard: Vintage Roses and Wildflowers Greeting Card

To love at all is to be vulnerable.
Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken.
If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal.
Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries;
avoid all entanglements.
Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness.
But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change.
It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.
To love is to be vulnerable.
― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Vintage postcard with an illustration of roses and wildflowers growing above a garden pond. The words “With Love and Best Wishes” are inscribed in calligraphic font at the bottom of the card. You can download the high-res 6” x 4” @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.


From my personal collection of ephemera. These images are to be incorporated into your creative works. Not for resale “as-is.” Credit to FieldandGarden.com appreciated but not required.

Vintage Art Appreciation: The Saucer of Milk by Helen Allingham

The Saucer of Milk, 19th century
by Helen Allingham (1864–1919)
Do your little bit of good where you are;
it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.
― Desmond Tutu

The thought manifests the word;
The word manifests the deed;
The deed develops into habit;
And habit hardens into character;
So watch the thought and its ways with care,
And let them spring forth from love
Born out of compassion for all beings.
As the shadow follows the body, as we think, so we become.
― Dhammapada

Vintage art oiginally found on Wikimedia here. Don't you just love this gentle, idyllic cottage scene? You can download my digitally enhanced version of this utterly charming garden painting as an 8” x 10” @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Printable Vintage Art: The Brushwood Collector by Adolf Kaufmann

We all have forests in our minds. Forests unexplored, unending. Each one of us gets lost in the forest, every night, alone.
― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Wind's Twelve Quarters

Their life is mysterious, it is like a forest; from far off it seems a unity, it can be comprehended, described, but closer it begins to separate, to break into light and shadow, the density blinds one. Within there is no form, only prodigious detail that reaches everywhere: exotic sounds, spills of sunlight, foliage, fallen trees, small beasts that flee at the sound of a twig-snap, insects, silence, flowers. And all of this, dependent, closely woven, all of it is deceiving. There are really two kinds of life. There is, as Viri says, the one people believe you are living, and there is the other. It is this other which causes the trouble, this other we long to see.
― James Salter, Light Years

A vintage landscape painting by Adolf Kaufmann (1848–1916) entitled “The Brushwood Collector”; oiginally found on Wikimedia here. Digitally enhanced version can be downloaded as a 5” x 7” @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Printable Vintage Art: A Thistle by John Crome

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
The slogan “Press On!” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.
― Calvin Coolidge

A botanical painting by John Crome (1768–1821). This one is simply titled “A Thistle” and was painted circa 1812. Oiginally found on Wikimedia here. You can download my digitally enhanced version here.

Did you know that there are more than 60 native and introduced species of thistles in Canada alone? While many of these varieties are considered noxious weeds due to their persistent and invasive properties, they are a fantastic source of food for pollinators. In my garden, I have a modestly-sized, but controlled, clump of Echinops (globe thistle) that I grow as companion plants to my Echinacea (coneflowers). Both have the same watering requirements, being very drought tolerant, and both attract pollinators by the hundreds, if not thousands, every season! The spent flowers also attract plenty of birds, particularly finches, to devour the seedheads that develop, which adds to the lively atmosphere in the back yard. Keep these spiky plants at the back of the border but within easy reach so you can dig out a handful or two should they become too unruly.

Globe thistles emerging in late spring to provide sculptural contrast in the garden
Photo © FieldandGarden.com. All rights reserved.

Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Printable Vintage Art: From the Road on the Way to Stinson Beach from Mill Valley by D. Howard Hitchcock

Midway along the journey of our life
I woke to find myself in a dark wood,
for I had wandered off from the straight path.

How hard it is to tell what it was like,
this wood of wilderness, savage and stubborn
(the thought of it brings back all my old fears),

a bitter place! Death could scarce be bitterer.
But if I would show the good that came of it
I must talk about things other than the good.
― Dante Alighieri

Their life is mysterious, it is like a forest; from far off it seems a unity, it can be comprehended, described, but closer it begins to separate, to break into light and shadow, the density blinds one. Within there is no form, only prodigious detail that reaches everywhere: exotic sounds, spills of sunlight, foliage, fallen trees, small beasts that flee at the sound of a twig-snap, insects, silence, flowers.

And all of this, dependent, closely woven, all of it is deceiving. There are really two kinds of life. There is, as Viri says, the one people believe you are living, and there is the other. It is this other which causes the trouble, this other we long to see.
― James Salter, Light Years

A vintage landscape painting of trees in a forest by David Howard Hitchcock (1861–1943) from 1910 entitled “From the Road on the Way to Stinson Beach from Mill Valley”; oiginally found on Wikimedia here. Digitally enhanced version can be downloaded as a 6” x 8” @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Printable Vintage Art: Winter River Landscape by Adolf Kaufmann

There are such a lot of things that have no place in summer and autumn and spring. Everything that’s a little shy and a little rum. Some kinds of night animals and people that don’t fit in with others and that nobody really believes in. They keep out of the way all the year. And then when everything’s quiet and white and the nights are long and most people are asleep—then they appear.
― Tove Jansson, Moominland Midwinter

But now she loved winter. Winter was beautiful “up back” - almost intolerably beautiful. Days of clear brilliance. Evenings that were like cups of glamour - the purest vintage of winter's wine. Nights with their fire of stars. Cold, exquisite winter sunrises. Lovely ferns of ice all over the windows of the Blue Castle. Moonlight on birches in a silver thaw. Ragged shadows on windy evenings - torn, twisted, fantastic shadows. Great silences, austere and searching. Jewelled, barbaric hills. The sun suddenly breaking through grey clouds over long, white Mistawis. Ice-grey twilights, broken by snow-squalls, when their cosy living-room, with its goblins of firelight and inscrutable cats, seemed cosier than ever. Every hour brought a new revalation and wonder.
― L.M. Montgomery, The Blue Castle

A vintage landscape painting by Adolf Kaufmann (1848–1916) entitled “Winter River Landscape”; oiginally found on Wikimedia here. Digitally enhanced version can be downloaded as a 14” x 11” @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

My Photo Journal: January Cold (1)

“January”

The days are short, / The sun a spark
Hung thin between / The dark and dark.

Fat snowy footsteps / Track the floor,
And parkas pile up / Near the door.

The river is / A frozen place
Held still beneath / The trees' black lace.

The sky is low. / The wind is gray.
The radiator / Purrs all day.
― John Updike, A Child's Calendar

It is growing cold. Winter is putting footsteps in the meadow. What whiteness boasts that sun that comes into this wood! One would say milk-colored maidens are dancing on the petals of orchids. How coldly burns our sun! One would say its rays of light are shards of snow, one imagines the sun lives upon a snow crested peak on this day. One would say she is a woman who wears a gown of winter frost that blinds the eyes. Helplessness has weakened me. Wandering has wearied my legs.
― Roman Payne

Image shows a winter-bare tree standing in a field of snow-draped goldenrod and other native vegetation, their wild beauty unbowed by harsh winds or icy cold. I took the photo on a walk around the Civic Recreation Complex in Whitby, Ontario. Are you still going out and about despite the inclement weather? Or have you decided to cocoon at home until spring returns? Leave a comment below to tell us how you're handling January.
Photo © FieldandGarden.com. All rights reserved.

Printable Vintage Illustration: Conversations in the Garden 9

Treat your relationship
As if you are growing
The most beautiful sacred flower.
Keep watering it,
Tend to the roots,
And always make sure
The petals are full of color
And are never curling.
Once you neglect your plant,
It will die,
As will your relationship.
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun

The smallest indivisible human unit is two people, not one;
one is a fiction.
From such nets of souls societies, the social world, human life springs.
―Tony Kushner
19th century illustration of two ladies having a conversation in the garden. One of them is holding her son by the hand as he calmly takes in his surroundings. 8.5” x 11” @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here


From my personal collection of ephemera. These images are to be incorporated into your creative works. Not for resale “as-is.” Credit to FieldandGarden.com appreciated but not required.

Printable Vintage Art: The Cat and the Flowers by Édouard Manet

Every day, at least for a few minutes, go and be with the plants. Look at them and smile, touch them with love, and talk to them for a while. These little engagements will recuperate your heart and nurture your soul.
― Bhuwan Thapaliya

We are all mistaken sometimes; sometimes we do wrong things, things that have bad consequences. But it does not mean we are evil, or that we cannot be trusted ever afterward.
― Alison Croggon

Vintage drawing titled “The Cat and the Flowers,” 1861 by Édouard Manet (1832-1883); oiginally found on Wikimedia here. This picture resonated with me because our toitoiseshell cat is also a master gardener who simply loves deadheading flowers and plants. She is so zealous in her duties that sometimes she doesn't even wait for the plants to look spent before she slices them off with her razor-sharp claws! Do you have a cat who loves gardening? Feel free to share your experience in the comments below.

My digitally enhanced version of Manet’s vintage drawing can be downloaded as a high-res 11” x 14” @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.