The Flowering Calendar of Claude Monet’s Garden

“I must have flowers, always, and always.” ― Claude Monet

Can’t make it to Giverny until the autumn? Don’t put off your visit – Claude Monet’s pink stucco house and his fabulous gardens should not be missed. Even in mid-October Giverny is a riot of colour: a natural palette that blooms until the first frost. The Grande Allée is an impenetrable path of bright orange nasturtiums. Zinnias, dahlias and asters still reach for the warm autumn sun.

The Impressionist’s water garden reflects the subdued mauves and plums of its bank-hugging shrubs and the yellow of its weeping willows. Monet’s often-painted Japanese foot-bridge is festooned with twisting vines of wisteria. The water-lilies, inspiration for Monet’s Nymphéas series, still bloom well into October.

The green-thumbs at Giverny carry on the tradition of mixing and blending the garden’s plantings like the artist with his paint. Just the right tint, tone and shade are required to saturate the gardens with colour for each of the seven months its growing season. A flowering calendar of Claude Monet’s gardens is available with a list of what blooms when. Perhaps you could replicate your own private Giverny in your back yard!

The Flowering Calendar of Claude Monet’s Gardens at Giverny

April

Tulips, pansies, forget-me-nots, narcissi, aubrietas, cherry and crab-apple blossom, fritillaries, and daffodils.

May
Irises, peonies, rhododendrons, geraniums, wisterias, azaleas, wallflowers, daisies, laburnum and delphiniums.

June
Roses, poppies, clematis, and tamarisk.

July
Roses, nasturtiums, ageratums, zinnias, nicotianas, busy-lizzies, verbenas, dahlias, rudbeckias, salvias, gladioli, cleomes, cosmos, sunflowers, helianthus, hollyhocks. The water-lilies begin in July.

August
Dahlias, cosmos, hibiscus, plus all of the July blooms.

September
Nasturtiums carpet the Grande Allée, asters, dahlias, cosmos, rudbeckias

October
Dahlias, plus all of the annual flowers until frost.

Claude Monet declared “My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece.” Visitors can see his masterpiece every day, from March 25th to November 1st, 2016 From 9.30 AM to 6.00 PM. Visit the official website here.