Two big wisterias top the bridge in Monet’s water garden at Giverny. One is a pale lavender, it blooms first for two weeks, generally at the beginning of May.

It is followed by the white wisteria. So if you come in May you are pretty sure to see the canopy flowering. But according to the year the blooming period varies. if the Winter was mild and Spring early, the lavender wisteria starts earlier, at the end of April. On the contrary a late Winter can delay it up to three weeks.

But anyway, there is always something spectacularly beautiful to admire in Monet’s garden, from April through October.

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Now that all the wild roses are spent, their lovely berries shine in the morning mist.

The dog roses grow everywhere in the area of Giverny, on road sides, on the bushy hills, turning the countryside into a giant garden when they are in bloom in springtime.

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Nobody will sit on the benches in Monet’s garden anymore this year. Giverny is closed for five months.

Last Sunday evening, when the last tourist left the museum, the garden was still full of blooming geraniums, dahlias and of many annuals.

All of a sudden, everything changed dramatically. No visitors anymore in the alleys, but the very busy gardeners. One of their first task is to put all the benches in a safe place, where they will be cleaned, repainted and repaired this winter.

Another important job is to shelter the fragile flowers which are grown in pots. Within days all the flower beds will become empty and bare, ready to resist the first frost.

But for the moment the weather is mild. Cows are still outside in meadows as green as usual thanks to the almost daily rain.  In Monet’s garden the leaves of the glowing liquidambars fall silently onto the pond, whilst their admirors have gone.

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