Pilgrimage to a Gardener's Paradise...Monet's Giverny

No, I wasn’t on strike. We were on a pilgrimage to the gardeners’ Mecca, Monet’s gardens at Giverny. Amazing what one visionary guy’s obsession with gardens can do. Gone (all over France, in fact), were those centuries of cropped and tortured bushes, Addam’s family formal gardens with a few sick looking pansies thrown in. Instead everywhere we went, lush stands of perennials tumbled over each other to create tapestries straight out of the Cluny museum of the Middle Ages. “Monet,” our guide explained with a grin. French cities now even post up to five-star rating signs at village entrances, advising the visitor how important flowers are to that community’s public persona. That, in a country where food, fashion and wine alone once ruled supreme.

Wow. But then, I digress. We arrived at the gate to Monet’s personal paradise with the dew still fresh on the mounds of cosmos lining fields around the parking lot (a favorite also, I had a twinge of deja vu, with cut-flower growers on our own North Fork). No hordes of tourists yet, so we headed straight for the water gardens. It was a revelation to see how closely those actual plantings resembled what Monet had captured on his amazing canvases. Sky and water and foliage blended into a strange hybrid organism that defy either pen or photographer’s lens to capture. Some things are simply meant to be experienced. I had to believe Monet knew that. Which may be why he painted them over and over and over again.

Then there was his so-called garden Normand, a wild tangle of blooming and bloomed-out perennials straining to express themselves before the first hard frost. Color, color everywhere and what an impression it made! Sunlight filtered through the drought-thinned foliage overhead. The air was hushed, heavy for all the visitors who by now had descended on the place—far less, I was assured than in the high flush of summer. It was tough to pull ourselves away, but it helped to remember we are privileged to live in a garden spot of our own where people truly care about green things growing (pumpkin weekends and all). So there went another check-mark on my Bucket List. What a difference one creative landowner and artist’s vision, plus a hearty supply of seed packets can make!