Create Monet's Garden in
Your Minnesota Landscaping
Claude Monet's garden is located in a much warmer climate than most of the Midwest. Is it possible to re-create an impressionist feel in our cold winters?
While not possible to re-create every tree, shrub and perennial, it is possible to following the principles of Monet's garden -- the layout, the pathways, layering of plants and water, and color schemes.
Plant Types
Monet favored simple, single-petal flowers rather than hybridized doubles, as well as native plants, which he found were easier to maintain. He avoided plants with variegated foliage, finding them too busy.
Choosing a dominant color, he wove it through the plantings to unify the design. Orange, gold and pink flowers were planted on the west side of the garden to emphasize the color of sunset; blue and salmon were used to soften the beds in early morning.
Layering plants -- perennials, annuals, vines, and bulbs -- he created the very full look he painted on canvas.
Testing Plants
Like many gardeners today, Monet had an experimental bed to test new plants for hardiness, color and ease of culture. If he liked a plant, he would decide where to put it after testing.
With six gardeners, he could easily move plants season to season to their best location. Flowers were always planted in large clumps, rather than one or two of a variety.
Minnesota Plants for Monet's Garden
Here's a loose interpretation of Monet's Grand Allee for your Minnesota landscaping:
Back of the bed:
- Heliopsis 'Summer Sun', yellow
- Aster 'Bluebird', violet blue
- Sunflowers, yellow
Middle to back of bed:
Middle of the bed:
- Dahlia (cactus variety), red
- Bearded Iris 'Dusky Challenger', dark purple
- Bearded Iris 'Breakers', medium blue re-bloomer
- Lysimachia 'Alexander', yellow
- Rudbeckia 'Goldstrum' yellow-gold
- Oriental Poppy 'Brilliant', red
- Oriental Poppy 'Princess Victoria Louise', salmon
Middle to front of bed:
- Tulips (early, mid and late flowering) red and pink
- Snapdragons, yellow
Front of bed:
- Nicotiana, red
- Impatiens, red and white
- Marigolds, yellow and orange
- Pansy, blue
Lining the pathway:
- Nasturtium in orange and red
On the Arbor:
- 'William Baffin' Climbing rose, deep pink
- 'Ramblin' Red' Climbing rose, red
Enjoy my interpretation of Monet's impressionist garden!
Written by:
Dorothy Pedersen, Nature's Garden LLC
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