It is this time of year again. Already! At last! The beginning of spring. The time of primroses. 

They flower in big cushions along the paths, so pretty that they look cultivated. What! Nature offers these lovely bunches of pinks and yellows for free, to please our eyes and feed the bees! A present of springtime, that has so many to give away.

We may cherish the flowers of summer, but the first ones are the dearest. Monet also must have been moved by the beauty of the primroses, because he didn’t want them to be pulled out for the sheer reason that they are wild and common. Instead, he asked his gardeners to plant around them.

This is still done at Giverny. Lovely wild flowers enhance borders of spring bulbs and biennials.   They are one of the tips and tricks used by Monet, an accomplished gardener, to make his garden look more natural.

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What is so different and appealing with Monet’s flower garden is its very natural look. The gardeners apply themselves to avoid that flowers seem regimented.

It is not as simple as it sounds. We as humans have a tendency to organize. Spontaneously, unconsciously, what we do and make turns out to be regular.  

One of the gardeners’ trick for planting bulbs randomly is to throw them on the ground, the bare ground of late Autumn. Where the bulb fell, there it is planted.

This tip works for camassias or tulips. Biennals are planted by color patches that combine different varieties, wallflowers, pansies, violas…  Sizes, shapes and hues of the same color help creating the impressionist brushstrokes feeling.  

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