DeSoto Magazine – Southern Girl Afield - Ann Yungmeyer

His Garden
Still Grows
Text and Photography by Dana Finimore
“What I need most are flowers,
always flowers,”
— Claude Monet (1840–1926)
The graveled path noisily crunched
underfoot as I entered the lush Eden.
Roses, dahlias, fuchsia, anemone,
asters and a plethora of other autumn
flora immersed me in their palette of
yellow, pink, blue, orange and green
and drowned me with a fragrance that
only Mother Nature could create.
Golden sunflowers towered overhead
and swayed in the crisp September
breeze. Insects of the winged variety
fluttered from bud to blossom and
back again. It was a made-to-order
nirvana, designed to render endless
themes to paint.
Claude Monet’s garden and water lily pond in
the French village of Giverny is one of France’s
extraordinary attractions, drawing nearly
500,000 art and garden lovers each year.
An artist’s home that has survived years of time
and neglect is a venerable anthropologic treasure
trove for those wishing to learn from the clues left
behind. To view the sanctuary where Monet lived,
worked and painted is to gain an invaluable insight
into what inspired him as an artist.
Following Monet’s death at his home in
Giverny on December 5, 1926, the once lovely
domicile fell into gradual demise. It was feared
the residence of the world’s foremost
impressionistic painter might be lost.
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