Amid a series of fatal, record-breaking heatwaves rippling across France, gardeners maintaining Claude Monet’s house and gardens in Giverny reported that the scorching conditions have damaged the Impressionist painter’s beloved nasturtiums.
In a video segment broadcast on France24 this week, deputy head gardener Rémi Lecoutre said that this is the first time that heat damage has occurred to this extent, calling the matter “incredibly sad.”
The entire stock of multicolored blossoms lining the main alley has withered under the intense heat, sunshine, and persistent drought. In an email to Hyperallergic, a spokesperson for Monet’s house and gardens mentioned that the nasturtiums will have to be replanted, but assured that they’d be ready to bloom again next year.
“Fortunately, we have a very effective nighttime automatic watering system that allows irrigation right at ground level,” the spokesperson explained, adding that the gardeners’ dense grouping of plants reduces water loss.
