Chicago Botanic Garden

Education — Lenhardt Library

Current Books & Book Reviews

PHOTO: bookcover

Debbie Roberts and Ian Smith.
Creating Garden Ponds and Water Features.
San Diego: Laurel Glen, 2001.
paper, 144 p., ISBN 1-571-45492-6, $12.95.
PHOTO: bookcover

Vivian Russell.
Planting Schemes from Monet’s Garden.
London: Frances Lincoln, 2003.
paper, 160 p., ISBN 0-711-21787-4, $19.95

The garden at Claude Monet’s residence at Giverny, a village outside of Paris, contains two planting themes: a flower garden close to the house, and a water garden reached via an underground tunnel connecting the separated properties of the deceased artist and amateur gardener. On the cutting edge in the impressionist art world, Monet (1840-1926) created general planting schemes that served him in his study of the effect of light and atmospheric conditions on the natural world. These gardens have been lovingly maintained, and over time they have developed into works of art worthy of a visit seven months of the year.

Neither the flower garden nor the water garden contains strong elements of design. The former mainly consists of a color palette of garden plants in rectangular beds. Its beauty is in the combination of floral harmonies. Author Vivian Russell notes that Monet did not regularly paint the views of his flower garden, leaving it as a living canvas. However, the water garden, created in the style of a Japanese stroll garden, repeatedly served as the scene for his exquisite canvas studies of water lilies. A colored drawing of the garden plan is a useful guide to the planting schemes. Unfortunately, many of these plants are not readily available in the United States from routine horticultural sources.

— Marilyn K. Alaimo, garden writer and volunteer, Chicago Botanic Garden.