by Ariane ~ October 27, 2012
Claude Monet planted a beautiful bamboo grove in his water garden at Giverny.
Bamboos are ever green. This picture was taken on the 1st of November, the very last day of the season, and even on such a late date bamboos were as pretty as ever.
Bamboos are not native to France. The golden bamboos that Monet chose look very tall and exotic in Normandy.
Monet liked growing giant plants and Japanese plants, and bamboos were both at the same time.
As a clever gardener, the painter chose the best location for them: on an island of his water garden, where they would get enough water, and where the invasive roots would be contained by the stream.
He never painted them, but certainly liked the contrast their shade produces with the pond, that is open and full of light.
After Monet passed away, the garden was left without much tending for long years. But the bamboos have survived, because they regenerate spontaneously, making new shoots every year.
During the decades when Monet’s house was left uninhabited, the garden became the playground of the children of Giverny. One of their favorite games was playing Tarzan in Monet’s bamboo grove. For them, it looked like a rain forest.
by Ariane ~ October 5, 2012
Next year, the Easter week-end is the last week-end of March.
The direction of Fondation Claude Monet has thus decided exceptionnally to open the gardens of Giverny on Saturday 30 March at 9.30am.
This will be two days earlier than the normal date.
Read the rest of this entry »
by Ariane ~ October 4, 2012
This is how the Monet garden at Giverny looks this week. The gently sloping “Norman Enclosure”, Monet’s backyard, offers an explosion of dahlias of all kinds, and amazing sunflowers, black eyed Susans, nicotinias, sages, nasturtiums, asters, cosmos, castor plants, zinnias, marigolds, daturas, fox tails, etc etc.
It is SO beautiful!
All these flowers harmonize by colors in monochromatic flower beds. Here the orange version. You will also see red borders, purple ones, pink ones, yellow ones… The garden is typically impressionist in late season.
In the water garden, the last water lilies float on the pond. The light is ever changing, providing continuously renewed effects. The foliages have started to change their color.
Fall is one of my favorite time at Giverny. I would not be surprised if it would have been Monet’s favorite time too.
by Ariane ~ August 31, 2012
This is the main alley of Monet’s garden at Giverny, as it looks right now: the nasturtiums planted in May are progressively covering the path.
They ressemble a river of flowers, and with a bit of imagination you almost see them flowing.
What for? To fill the water lily pond of the water garden, of course!
by Ariane ~ August 15, 2012
This flower bed graces the pond side in Monet’s water garden at Giverny. The main color is red, ranging from orange to purple. I’ve counted over 20 different kinds of flowers planted together, but there are probably more. Here are a few: New Guinea impatience, common begonia, angel wing begonia, common fuchsia, fuchsia microphylla, abutilon, asclepia, oxalys, sage, tithonia, heuchera, polygonum, sweet William, nicotinia… to quote only those that are flowering right now. This border is a good example of the way Monet liked to combine flowers. The appearant wildness of the garden is the result of a lot of work.
by Ariane ~ July 26, 2012
Here are the moor hens living on Claude Monet’s pond at Giverny.
Every year, they nest on the island in the middle of the pond, or in the shrubs around. After a few weeks, they appear on the water with their adorable little chicks, five of them generally.
They are so sweet, light enough to walk on the lily pads. Both parents take care of them. But it won’t help.
Because we are human beings with a memory, we know what’s going to happen next: the ducklings will end in the belly of the pike living in the pond. This is the cruel story that repeats every year.
But because they are moor hens, and have not much space for brains in their head, they forget every year and keep nesting on the same location.
This afternoon two of the smalls only were left.
by Ariane ~ June 26, 2012
Just an idea of the profusion of roses blooming in June at Giverny!
For a few weeks, Monet’s garden becomes a rose garden.
Rambling, climbing roses climb on dozens of metallic structures, typical for a garden designed in the 19th Century.
by Ariane ~ June 11, 2012
Next to the first studio of Claude Monet at Giverny, the white waterfall of a beautiful philadelphus offers a dramatic show.
It faces the little rose garden, just perfect by now.
A bench nested at its feet is a nice place where to have a rest after meandering in the alleys.
If the wind blows, it will let fall a shower of white petals on the visitors seated below.
by Ariane ~ June 7, 2012
After the yellow and orange Iceland poppies, and the enormous red perennial Chinese poppies, it is now time for the lovely pink annual poppies.
Each year, when they pull the dried ones out of the ground, the gardeners scatter the seeds in the flower beds. They grow everywhere, and they turn the garden into a pink fairy for a few days.
The eremurus, also known as fox tails, create an interesting contrast with their vertical shape.
They are topped by the climbing roses, at their best in June.
by Ariane ~ May 28, 2012
The painter Claude Monet had a special eye for refined and simple countryside elegance.
Here, the main entrance to his home at Giverny, an harmony of tender pink and bright green, enhanced by two blue Chinese pots.
The balance is obtained by the symetry of the decoration.
The curtains behind the iron cast door make it look like a puppet theatre.
by Ariane ~ May 24, 2012
The question of the ‘best time’ to come to see Monet’s gardens at Giverny is hard to answer. Many times are so beautiful!
The iris period is one of my favorite. The irises are just at their peak right now, displaying their charms in waves of white and purple petals in Monet’s flower garden.
I love the irises, but I love the spectacular tulips as well, the fresh blossoms of early spring, the poppies time, the roses, the gorgeous summer flowers including Nympheas and nasturtiums, the asters of autumn…
When is it the best time to see Monet’s gardens? There are so many, one visit is not enough, you must come back!
by Ariane ~ May 20, 2012
This is Monet’s pond at Giverny seen from the Japanese Bridge in May, when the wisterias are in bloom.
The water lily pads float like islands on the surface. No flowers yet.
Short before closing time, visitors are few. The late afternoon sunshine enlightens the trees on the eastern side of the pool. Silence falls on the garden. The scent of the flowers is in the air.
by Ariane ~ April 30, 2012
Tulips spread their colors these weeks at Giverny. It is one of the times of year when the monet garden is at its brightest. The big colorful heads stand side by side, being planted tight, undisturbed by any leaves, that are much lower.
Tulips have the ability of looking thick and massive in direct or mute light, and totally different as soon as the sun shines through their petals. Then, in late afternoon for instance, they become delicate and light, they seem to loose any weight and dance in the breeze.
by Ariane ~ April 21, 2012
I have eventually gathered my favorite pictures of Giverny into a photo gallery.
Season after season, Monet’s water garden and flower garden change a lot.
I like early morning atmospheres as well as rainy days, bright sunshine or sunset. I like the snow white garden. I like roses and nympheas. I like the colors of autumn, the stunning reflections on the pond.
I hope you will like them too.
If you’d like painting after my pictures, please feel free. I would be happy to see your work.
by Ariane ~ April 19, 2012
One of the charms of Monet’s flower garden is its countryside look. This secluded garden is surrounded by high stone walls typical for the backyards in the region of Giverny. While the houses open on to the streets, the walls are pierced by little wooden doors leading to narrow paths between the estates. In Monet’s flower garden, this one was the way to the cottage of the head gardener in Monet’s times.
Against the walls, espaliered pear and apple trees recall the former use of the garden as an orchard, before Monet turned it into a magnificent impressionist garden. The straight alleys look like those of the kitchen garden it used to be.
