These last years, late frost killed invariably the tender buds of Claude Monet’s wisteria over the Japanese bridge. The following blooming was unimpressive.
But last winter, the Giverny gardeners installed a spray system that coats the buds with ice when the temperature drops. It worked outstandingly well! The wisteria planted by Monet is gorgeous again.
It will be followed by two more wisterias, one with long flowers and another one with white flowers. There are all very fragant. May is a nice time to visit Giverny! 🙂
Monet’s gardens at Giverny, 2023, 1st April / Photo Ariane Cauderlier
Visitors are back in Monet’s gardens in Giverny, enjoying the first flowers of the season: daffodils, tulips, pansies, hyacinths, fritillaries… Trees blossom in pink and white. The first water lily pads are appearing on the pool.
Exhibition ‘The Children of Impressionism’ in Giverny, spring 2023
In the nearby Musee des Impressionnismes Giverny (MDIG) the current exhibition is called ‘The Children of Impressionism’. It is packed with works by Renoir, Monet, Morisot, Pissarro, Boudin… full of fatherly or motherly tenderness. The exhibition will last up to July 2, 2023. Enjoy!
Photo Ariane Cauderlier, Monet’s water lily pond at Giverny, 7th July 2022
When Claude Monet didn’t paint, he could sit next to his water lily pond and observe it for long minutes. He was fascinated by the changing aspect of the surface. Some corners can be totally green, like this one, others reflecting the sky may be blue or animated by passing clouds. And the breeze blurs the surface in some places, ignoring other ones. Not to speak of the slow motion of the water lilies, opening in the morning and closing in the late afternoon.
Photo Ariane Cauderlier, Monet’s Garden in Giverny, 13th May 2022
Many visitors report that they feel inspired by Monet’s gardens at Giverny. “I haven’t painted for decades,” they tell me, “but now I feel tempted to take the brushes again.”
Claude Monet’s water lily pond is inspiring, for sure. The master of impressionism painted it year after year, relentlessly. It is not only breathtakingly beautiful, it is also very picturesque: worth being painted.
Garlands of wisterias wrap Monet’s footbridge with softness and delicacy. They are of different colors and sizes of panicles, from small to very long, from mauve to white, and when the sun shines, they fill the air with their fragrance.
This charming little bridge stands at one end of Claude Monet’s water lily pond in Giverny, over the small canal that used to bring some water into the pond. Agapanthus grown in planters and white hydrangeas cultivated like trees grace the place. Does this scene look familiar to you? It recalls many famous works of the artist. But as iconic as it sounds, Monet never painted this little bridge in his garden, but the big one only. Now covered with a canopy of wisterias, the big bridge has lost some of its likeness with Monet’s paintings.
Is there fish in Monet’s pond at Giverny? This is a question visitors ask frequently.
The water lily pond houses a few big carps, maybe eight according to the gardeners.
There are also smaller fish like ruds, that have orange fins, and at least a perch and a pike.
All of them are wild fish that can be found in streams nearby.
They contribute to the ecosystem of the pond and are invaluable to keep this little microcosm balanced.
The Giverny fish are greyish, silvery, but not colorful. No koi carps here, although they would add to the oriental look of the garden.
As mute as they may be, they are visible enough for the heron that visits the pond at dawn. The water is too deep for him to stand in it, but he stays on the side and keeps a close eye on the fish, hoping one will come near enough to be turned into his breakfast.
The bamboos reflection on Claude Monet’s water lily pond at Giverny adds a lot of interest to the scene, thanks to their moving lines. Their slow motion is quite hypnotic for the viewer, and their geometric aspect contrasts with the other plants all around.
Spring makes us all want to walk in beautiful gardens. At Giverny, azaleas and tulips gradually give way to irises, peonies and wisterias. The first water lilies should open within two weeks, recreating once more Monet’s beautiful setting and endless source of inspiration.
In the flower garden, visitors meander inside of a living painting where flowers recreate the illusion of brushstrokes. Monet had good reasons to claim that his garden was his most beautiful masterpiece.
Just like you can see the brushwork when you tour an exhibition and have a close look at paintings, at Giverny each single flower is a little universe in itself, offering its beauties to our admiration.
The beautiful water garden created by the impressionist master Claude Monet at Giverny still inspires painters.
Monet’s house and gardens will re-open on March 24, 2017. I’m looking forward to it. It is such a joy to work daily in this beauty giving guided tours to wonderful people. I miss flowers so much. What about you?
In June, all the water lilies flower on Monet’s pond, beautiful and delicate corollas in different tones of pink and soft yellow or white.
The foxgloves stand out everywhere in the garden, like giant sentinels that tower far above our heads.
The long lasting columbines team with other small flowers like geums and catchfly to offer a light foam of little dots of color. Elsewhere, annual poppies turn the garden pink or red.
June is the month of roses. At Giverny they stand or climb on dozens of metallic structures or on fences. Their scent is a delight…
This is not the winter we are having at Giverny this year. The last time Monet’s water lily pond looked that way was in 2012.
It was so beautiful then! I roamed in the gorgeous yet closed garden and couldn’t look and shoot enough.
The landscape turned white is not that frequent at Giverny. Although we do get a few flakes every winter and a few nights of frost, generally the weather is more humid than cold. It is overcast, it rains, but not cats and dogs, only kittens and puppies, you know.
Patience. All this will soon be over. Fondation Claude Monet opens rain or shine on March 25, 2016, and the seven-month flower show wil be more beautiful than ever.
