Pocket gardens, garden walks
Living Art
In bloom along the lakeshore By Ann Smith
The corner of 5th and Clay in Muskegon grabs pedestrians’ attention. Arbors shade a path off the sidewalk, and at its end you glimpse an aqua bridge. Step in, and the view opens to roses and peonies. In the spring, swaths of daffodils. Happening upon it unaware, you’d swear you’re in a painting by Claude Monet. And you’d be (kind of) right. The lush space a block from Hackley Park is a very intentional miniature of the iconic garden in Giverny, France that the impressionist painted 250 times. This “pocket garden,” one of a number in Muskegon and other lakeshore towns, exists thanks to volunteers. The Lakeshore Garden Masters club created the Monet Garden in 2000 on a city-owned lot that, at that time, was strewn with junk. They have maintained it ever since. City staff pitch in for big jobs like trimming trees. Other supporters built the bridge, arches and obelisks for climbing plants, and raise the funds necessary for these projects. It’s only 50 by 50 feet, but for devoted gardeners, small can be beautiful. The garden club’s members know how to pack a lot of beauty into this compact space. Many are graduates of Michigan State University’s master gardener program. At least 50 species grow in the Monet Garden, where visits at different times 18
monet Garden
of summer present different vistas as the various perennials come into bloom. Club president Marsha Green says they stick to what Monet had in his garden, which still exists today. As closely as they can, that is. “The cultivars that he planted when he made his garden are not always available, or they’ve ‘improved’ them in some way. For example, some of the roses have lost their smell which is unfortunate. Plus, it has to grow in Michigan,” Green says. Along with annuals in some beds, nearly a dozen varieties of tulips and a dozen of daffodils are planted, and peonies, hydrangeas, irises, allium and others. “In some cases, we wanted mixed colors, in some
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