MONET’S GARDENS AT GIVERNY

“Every day I discover more and more beautiful things. It’s enough to drive one mad. I have such a desire to do everything, my head is bursting with it.”

–Monet

Claude Monet was a revolutionary artist who helped define the Impressionist movement in the mid to late nineteenth century, and his gardens were his main sources of influence. While most of us immediately associate him with water lilies, that was just a small part of his painterly ode to the ephemeral beauty of nature. Monet’s goal with his paintings was to capture the essence of nature itself in all its transitory glory. His works capture the subtle and ephemeral presence of light and mist just before it wanes and the seasons as they transition and fade. Capturing certain landscapes at different times of the year and the flora blooming during spring or summer is beyond artful; it takes a fleeting moment and makes it eternal.

Create an Impressionistic Garden of Your Own

“My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece.” –Monet

Make your garden look like an Impressionist painting. Devour inspiration from Claude Monet’s works inspired by his own garden paradise at Giverny, hidden just an hour outside of Paris. Artists, beauty lovers and plant enthusiasts visit year-round to gaze at the majesty of whatever happens to be in bloom. Even as Monet grew old and began to lose his eyesight, he knew his gardens so well that he could paint from memory.

Go beyond Impressionism and take a love of nature and beauty to use it as an encouragement to plant your own garden. Even without much land, one can still enjoy visiting gardens, parks, greenhouses, and rural settings for outdoor meditation and connection. For those up to the task and seasoned gardeners alike, glean ideas from Monet’s most famous paintings to create or enhance a dreamy green space.

Monet created his floating studio and was consumed by colour; rowing in the pond throughout his property and the Ru River nearby allowed him to study and observe up close and without distraction so he could capture the most delicate hues. Plein-air painting or “en plein air” literally means “in the open air,” and Monet revolutionized the act of painting alfresco among his flowering gardens, fields, hills, and footbridges.

• “The Japanese Footbridge,” 1899: One of the most famous paintings of Monet’s, the bridge was a focal point from which to paint. Find your own focal point for a garden and start from there, be it a bridge, gazebo, small pond, or flowerbed featuring your favorite blossoms.
• “Water Lily Pond,” 1899: While Monet painted different versions of water lilies for years, there is a definite image that comes to mind where the hues of light on water and flourishing flowers “hold spring captive.”
• “The Artist’s Garden at Giverny:” Completed in 1900, the textures and colours of rows of purple and pink irises blooming beneath trees are breathtaking.

• “The Artist’s Garden in Argenteuil (A Corner of the Garden with Dahlias),” 1873: Plant hardy flowers, dedicate an entire corner or section to them and let them flourish. More is more! Letting a garden overgrow a bit and become fecund and wild is always exquisite and preferable to overly pruned bushes and shrubs.
• “A Pathway in Monet’s Garden,” 1902: create footpaths and trails using stones to intertwine between and connect different sectionals of flowers with other garden highlights.
• “Water Landscapes”: A water garden is always a whimsical idea. Whether it’s a manmade koi pond, a fountain, or a larger aquatic feature, fill it with water lilies and reap the wistful and Zen benefits. Take a cue from Monet’s “Flowers by the Pond” and make sure to plant Lobelia cardinalis (cardinal flower) nearby for a much-needed pop of vivid crimson.

Monet’s Most Beloved Flowers

“I must have flowers, always, and always.” –Monet

Plant these posies to create enchantment year-round:

• Irises (as seen in “Irises in Monet’s Garden”) are always a springtime favorite and essential bulbs for any garden, no matter how small the plot of earth. While Monet usually depicted purple or yellow Japanese irises, any type of bearded iris works, too.
• Agapanthus, or “Lily of the Nile,” requires little care as it can thrive in many conditions; while it prefers full sunlight, it will survive in the shade as well. The colour variety of this gorgeous plant most commonly ranges from pink to purple (with all the varying shades of indigo in between), and since it grows on a long stalk, it is very striking and adds height to any vista.

• Roses (as seen in “The Path with Rose Trellises,” “The House from the Rose Garden,” and “Rose Arches at Giverny”): Monet painted his rose garden, the paths leading up to trellises bursting with wild blossoms and flowering arches by studying these flowers carefully every day, in every season.
• Wisteria is so dreamy because of its irresistible purple hue and the fact that it grows on a vine, hangs beautifully, and accents any trellis.
• “Autumn on the Seine:” Even in the fall of the year, bright foliage and fallen leaves can be gathered, arranged, and enjoyed as much as flowering plants.
• Poppies (as seen in “Poppy Field in a Hollow near Giverny”) are always welcome additions to any garden because of their vivid colour and ability to spread easily without fuss.

Trees and Grasses

“I would like to paint the way a bird sings.” –Monet

• Poplars or cottonwood trees are lovely in spring, summer, and fall (from “Pink Poplars” to “Poplars in the Sun”) and are especially attractive when planted in rows.

• Weeping willows, quince, ash, ginkgos, apple, alder, and poplar are all different types of trees that can be found in Claude Monet’s garden at Giverny.
• The “Haystack” series proved that tall grass in a field cut and made into hay is just as captivating as other flowering plants in every season—from the brilliant golden hour of autumn to winter fields filled with snow.
• Monet’s works depicting oat fields prove that even grain (in spring and summer embellished by wildflowers and barren in winter) is not only a food source but visually appealing vegetation as well.

To read more about Monet, his gardens at Giverny, and the flowers, plants, and trees growing there, visit the links below:

https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.72138.html

https://giverny.org/gardens/fcm/visitgb.htm

https://returnofanative.com/stories/monets-garden-giverny

For more information on the works mentioned above, consult this publication: “Monet’s Years at Giverny: Beyond Impressionism,” 1978 (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

For everything you want to know about flowers (from what’s in season to helpful tips) and for purchasing the most exquisite bouquets, arrangements, and baskets, visit Chelsea Flowers at the website.