Monet's Garden, the First Healing Garden

 Join me for a live-streamed program:

The Healing Garden

Wednesday, August 31

Time 7:00 - 9:00 CST

The program will be recorded so you can watch it later if this time isn't convenient for you.

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My recent visit to Monet's Garden in Giverny was a source of inspiration for my upcoming talk on healing gardens. Monet suffered depression and mood swings. He said, "Many people think I paint easily, but it is not an easy thing to be an artist. I often suffer tortures when I paint." Today, most of us are dealing with stress in our everyday lives. A recent study showed that incidents of depression and anxiety increased with Covid.

Monet designed his water lily pond as "an asylum of peaceful meditation." Gardeners recognize a garden's healing properties. Whether actively gardening or just walking or sitting, when you connect with nature, positive changes occur in the body: lowering blood pressure, decreasing heart rate, reducing stress, and improving mood. Walking through Monet's garden, I felt a deep peace and calm. There were many visitors that day, including children, but there was an unexpected quietness.

I tried to capture some fantastic vistas but could not do the garden justice with my camera phone. A couple of weeks after my return to the United States, I was at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden in Pittsburg for the Monet Exhibition. Their depictions were terrific. I've included pictures from Phipps in this posting. Enjoy my photos, then join me on the 31st for lots of hints and ideas for appreciating and designing wellness gardens.

Monet's water garden. The waterlilies were blooming when I was there.

 

There are dense plantings on the banks of the pond. These are not only beautiful but have a practical purpose for safety -- they discourage visitors from getting too close to the water.

 

The display at Phipps beautifully portrayed Monet and his water garden.

Left: boats at Monet's water garden. Right: Phipps' life-sized models.

 

Essentially, there are two gardens at Giverny: the water garden and the flower garden. It is said the central path through the flower garden distressed Monet with its straight lines. In spring, foxtail lilies (Eremurus himalaicus) and giant alliums soar between the rose arches -- I would like to visit then.

The Central Path -- Left: Monet's Garden, Right: Phipps.

To the left of the main path Monet created a lawn area.

There are long beds throughout the garden, many with flowers of a single color.

In addition to the long beds there are 38 rectangular beds with mass plantings.

My favorite display at Phipps was Monet's 'Luncheon Under a Canopy.' I don't know if this meal was in his garden, but I like to think so.

 

Some of my favorite blooms are shown here. There is no bare earth. Monet often used pale colors to draw light into shade as with the anemone, bottom right .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pelargonium beds in front of Monet's house.

Geranium (Pelargonium) has been planted in front of the house for many years. The blooms are approximately two-thirds pink and one-third red. A stunning display.

My thanks to Jonathan for supplying some of the pictures and for being the BEST companion on our grandmother/grandson trip to London and Paris. Wishing him all the very best as he starts school at Pittsburg University next week -- hoping he makes many more visits to Phipps. Thanks, also, to the Infinity Foundation for making my 'Healing Garden' program possible. I look forward to 'seeing' you there, dear gardening friends.

Wishing you Peace in a Garden, 

Pamela x

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