From the Field: SOPH Intern Reports from Giverny, France

Posted in Learning Experiences on June 9 2009, by Plant Talk

Monet’s Garden Exposes Subtleties of Color and Light

Christopher Bale is a second-year student in the School of Professional Horticulture. He is doing his required six-month internship at the famous garden at Fondation Claude Monet in Giverny, France, and sent us this report. The School’s internship program is designed to allow students to synthesize and apply what they’ve learned, expand their skills by providing further training in a professional horticulture venue, and expose them to the multiple facets of the field.

At the Fondation Claude Monet garden in Giverny, France, I am learning a number of new skills that will serve me in my horticulture career. It is spring, and I am learning about different approaches to spring plantings as well as preparation for summer plantings.

The amazing things about the Monet garden are the subtleties and approaches to the use of color and light. These ideas are reflected in the various areas of the garden and are the design approaches that are the most important aspect of my learning experience.

Daily I am involved in all aspects of horticultural maintenance: pruning, planting, deadheading, and plant production. The new skills I have learned pertain to the day-to-day approaches to management and planning for a garden of this size and stature. I have learned many new plants along with many French common names. Most important has been the strengthening of my knowledge of the distinctions between the Narcissus divisions of the family Amaryllidaceae and the Tulipa types of the Liliaceae.