Monet had a small rose garden in this very protected area. A big  wall shelters them from northern wind. Roses don’t get much sunshine either, but apparently  they don’t mind. Many plants don’t dislike shadowed exposure as much as they dislike big changes in temperature.

The roses planted in this pocket rose garden are at their peak at the turn of May and June. The picture was taken on June 4. If you visit Giverny at another season, you might want to look for this little corner not for the roses, but for the rhododendrons, the dramatic Philadelphus, or just for the shadowed bench offering views on Monet’s first studio.

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When the weather gets cold and evenings dark, it is nice to grasp one’s needles again. Do you like knitting? Alice, Monet’s second wife, loved crocheting. The word seems to come from the french, a crochet being a little hook.

Needle works were considered an elegant pastime in the 19th century. In the middle class, the so called bourgeoisie, and in the aristocracy, ladies and young demoiselles were not supposed to work. But they were supposed to develop their talents at sorted hobbies, watercolor painting, singing, playing the piano… A good command of needle works was also extremely important to be considered an accomplished woman. This meant you would be able to cope with a household. And idleness is so dangerous, isn’t it ?

Alice Monet had four daughters. There was no season for embroidering or sewing for them. When it was cold they sat in the salon, next to the fire place. When it was warm, they preferred the open air and spent the afternoon on the benches of this place under the big tree, on the corner of the Clos Normand.

This place is still called the Ladies Circle.

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How could one get tired of this beauty?

The picture was taken this year on October 12.

There were still many flowers in full bloom, the gorgeous dahlias, contrasting with delicate asters and cosmos, and the bright yellow helianthus.

They provide a fabulous setting to the pale pink house.

September and the beginning of October are just breathtaking in Monet’s heaven at Giverny.

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The beauty of early October at Giverny, when Monet’s flower garden radiates with bright colors, is breathtaking.

It is certainly one of the best times to see the painter’s garden, more impressionist than ever.

Huge bouquets of sunflowers, asters, dahlias, cosmos mix their colors to create an overwhelming effect.

The metallic arches and tripods vanish in this sea of flowers, as well as visitors.

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The beginning of Autumn is a gorgeous season in Giverny.

Walking in the paths of Monet’s garden provides a unique experience of being merged in the flowers. Giant dahlias, cosmos, sunflowers have reached an incredible height.

All mixed together in enormous bunches of colors, they dance in the slightest breeze.

Overwhelming beauty.

The few visitors exclaim, astonished: It was worth coming! So many flowers! I wouldn’t have believed!

The air smells of sages, lavenders, and the acid fragrance of dying poplar leaves.

The waterlilies floating on the pond seem to be dreaming all day long. They hardly open for a few hours in the afternoon before closing again and returning to their sleep.

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A purple bush rose frames the big window of Monet’s first studio at Giverny.

Purple roses are not very common, nor look very natural, but they provide a strong impact. This one has a sweet name: lavender dream. It is lovely in springtime when it flowers in numerous small simple roses.

It is too late now for roses, but it is the right time to see -and smell- lavender in bloom at Giverny, as a slight reminiscence to Provence. It perfumes the air, together with phlox and lilies.

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How many gardeners are there at Giverny to tend Monet’s garden, is one of the questions visitors ask most often.

The five acre garden is maintained by eight gardeners.

Some visitors don’t believe me: eighty? they repeat, unsure they have heard well. No, eight only. They do a fantastic job.

In the garden, flowers are changed twice or thrice a year, according to the seasons. When spring flowers are spent they are replaced by summer flowers. This enormous task enables the garden to look very different through the seasons. Spring flowers are small, whereas summer flowers are giant, as tall as sunflowers.

In November all the flowers are pulled out again, the planting of the spring bulbs will take several weeks. The very skilled gardeners of Monet’s estate have a lot of work to do during the winter also, while the property is closed for five months.

In addition, most of the flowers are self produced in greenhouses located in the village of Giverny. This keeps several gardeners busy year round.

It is a hard job to be a gardener in heaven.

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What would be Spring without tulips? They illuminate April in Monet’s garden at Giverny.

According to the head gardener, the  list of the varieties displayed in the garden is very long: several hundreds of types of tulips make the Clos Normand sort of a flower show.

It is unbelievable how different the tulips can be. Their colors range from pure white to almost black red, from light pink to deep purple, from pale yellow to bright orange. They can be ridiculously tiny, or incredibly tall. Some are classically round shaped, other ones look like stars, or are as twisted as a flame. The parrot tulips seem tightly shut jaws.

But all of them have this silky quality of petals that reminds of the shine of skin, enhanced by dew in the morning sunshine.

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Trees in blossom make Giverny especially beautiful in April, like many gardens.

Monet’s garden was originally an orchard. When the painter-gardener transformed his garden into a living painting, he kept few fruit trees: they looked too common for him, Monet preferred more exotic species. But he still had espaliered pear and apple-trees leaning against the high stone walls.

He also cultivated them around a square lawn pruned in a shape that is called cordon (rope, maybe?). It is quite common in Normandy and looks very pretty.

When the apple trees are very young, two or three years old only, they are severely pruned. The gardener keeps one branch only on each side of the trunk. In Monet’s garden there is an upper tree and a lower tree, and they cross. The purpose for this clipping is to make lovely hedges and to obtain bigger apples, as they get a lot of sunshine and water. It is not always very convincing that the trick works, but at least the apples are easy to pick up… and very tasty!

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This is how Monet’s garden looked on April 1st, the very first morning it was open this year.

The morning sun enhances the pure lines of the Japanese bridge, whereas the air is full of scent from spring flowers like daffodils, pansies and hyacinths.

The light of this early  hour has pink and blue notes and  a very special vaporous quality.

Everything looks renewed and fresh, ready for a new start.

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Aren’t you tired of winter? We all look forward to spring. In Monet’s garden sprouts of flowers are coming out, while the gardeners are busy planting the pansies.

This is the way they will look in early April. Hyacinths will be already in full bloom and full scent, their delicate perfume recognizable steps away. At Giverny they greet the visitors right at the entrance to the garden.

Their pink combines perfectly with the mauve pansies flowering at the same time. All together they make a bunch of spring.

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Winter is a good time to sort out pictures. I spent a rainy day browsing through last years photographs of Monet’s garden and came to the idea of making a Giverny Calendar out of my favorite shots.

Here is the result, a wall calendar to accompany every Monet fans and garden lovers all year round.

I hope you will like it. I did my best to choose for each month the corresponding flowers in bloom at this time of year, but of course this was not really possible for winter months.

The Giverny Calendar is for sale on line for 27.99 US dollars. You can see all the pictures by clicking on the months.

I would be glad to have your feedback, in order to improve next time.

Joyeux Noël! Merry Christmas!

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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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The main alley of Monet’s garden at Giverny is invaded by nasturtiums.

Monet planted them this way, but originally, it was not on purpose.

Monet wanted to soften the straight lines of his alley by an edge of small flowers, and he planted what he thought were dwarf nasturtiums. Which appeared to be… rambling ones, and they started to creep over the gravel.

Monet liked this effect, then he repeated it intentionally every year.

It is a talent to know how to use one’s own mistakes.

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August is one of the best time to visit Monet’s gardens at Giverny.

The pond is covered by water lilies. The nasturtiums invade dramatically the main alley. And all the summer flowers give their big show.

Late summer is the time for giant flowers. Sunflowers of course, and also giant dahlias, rudbeckias, cosmos or helianthus as thick as walls of flowers. It is a strange feeling to be towered by these tall flowers. Anybody, even basketball players, could play hide and seek in Monet’s garden without bending his head.

This bee is rushing to visit a balsam, a sort of Impatiens which also belongs to this army of giants.

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