Monet's Passion - 20th Anniversary Edition - A book review and giveaway

Garden writer, photographer and designer Elizabeth Murray spent ten weeks in the fall of 1984 touring great gardens in ten European countries. It was Monet's celebrated garden in Giverny that left a lasting impression - an experience so strong that she gave up her full-time job in California, took a crash course in French and moved to France where she volunteered to work at Giverny in exchange for an apartment overlooking the garden. The next nine months, Murray worked with the head gardener and seven male gardeners, in this garden paradise.

Murray returns to Giverny on a yearly basis and continues to be captivated and enchanted by Monet's spirit and the beauty of the gardens. In 1990, she published "Monet's Passion" and this year the book has been re-issued and updated with new photographs and additional material.




This is a beautiful book, attractively designed and filled with lush photographs by the author, line drawings, maps and tips for creating your own Monet-inspired garden. 


The introductory chapter covers the history of Giverny, from the time Monet first purchased the property at the age of 43 until his death there at the age of 86 in 1926. He carefully planned the garden's design using a central axis extending from the front door leading to the famous Water Garden, located across the road from the main residence. The profusion of flowers and color, masterfully selected with an artist's eye, is the trademark of the garden and leaves visitor's in awe. Murray, an artist herself, understands this, and describes the effects that Monet strived for and achieved.








I've never been to Giverny but I've always thought of it as a Spring garden. But, as Murray's photos attest, the garden is remarkable in all seasons, and the autumn garden is wonderfully robust with color and majesty.

Design plans are included which show the reader how to achieve "the blooming house", balcony gardening, paint box plantings. Each design features a line drawing and transparent onion-skin type pages that you can overlay to see the effects.

An abundance of plants grow at Giverney, some of the signature flora being roses, iris, clematis, dahlia, poppies, sunflowers and peonies. These plants, and more, are profiled in an encyclopedic section. Other sections include a chronology, Monet's color palette and listings of plants used by Monet.

Win A Copy! - Pomegranate publishers is offering a free copy of this beautiful book to one lucky winner. To enter, just leave a comment to this blog post along with an e-mail address where I can contact you if you are the winner. I will be in California next week so I'm making this a two-week contest. Entries will be accepted until Friday, Oct. 15th, at 9 pm CST.

{{{{{ An Internet Random Number Generator chose "10" which means that Diana (Di) is the winner! Congratulations Di and thanks to everyone who entered. }}}}}


Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy