As I told you in yesterday’s post, Claude Monet purchased the property across the road from his farmhouse in Giverny in 1893, expanded the meadow pond already on the property, and filled it with different varieties of water lilies, including white water lilies local to France along with imported cultivars from South America and Egypt. Together, they provided Monet with a range of colors including yellow, blue and white lilies that turned pink with age. He also spanned the pond with a Japanese bridge that became a central feature in the series of large-scale paintings that was to occupy him continuously for the next 20 years of his life.
There are actually three footbridges in the water garden. I love all three, and following one of my trips to Giverny, I had a replica built for 
my own botanical garden on Matlacha Island which I Leomatized. You’ll find it at the rear door of the gallery, and everyone who wanders out into gardens crosses this bridge.
If you haven’t been to Lovegrove Gallery & Gardens, why not pay us a visit. When you do, be sure to have your picture taken on the replica of Claude Monet’s Japanese bridge.
