Clematis 'Dutchess of Albany,' c. 1930. Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, J. Horace McFarland Company Collection.

McFarland’s interest in photography grew from his enthusiasm for flowers and gardening.  While many people at the turn of the twentieth century were sometimes skeptical of the way technology seemed to distance humans from the natural world, McFarland embraced photography as a way to connect with the environment and learn about places. 

“Not the least of the advantages of flower-photography,” McFarland wrote, “is the insight it gives one into the mysteries and the elegancies of Mother Nature, and the acquaintance it fosters with the plants and trees of one’s immediate neighborhood.”