Monet’s perfect December landscape

We’ve almost reached the end of the year.  That means it’s time to bring you some more garden or landscape themed art, so here’s a Monet for December.  It’s ‘A Cart on the Snowy Road at Honfleur’.  Monet painted this snowy landscape in the 1860s, and it’s perfect for this month as Christmas 2020 was officially declared white by the Met Office! (We know there was no snow in our area, but you can follow this link to see how a white christmas is defined.

Why do we love a White Christmas?

The idea of a white Christmas is always appealing.  By that we mean a proper one with snow on the ground, not just a single snowflake on the met office roof.  When they’re blanketed in white, our gardens and landscapes take on a magical quality that suits the Christmas spirit.  Nevertheless, the beauty doesn’t last long.  We drive on the snow or walk over it, then it turns to slush and gets muddy.

But Monet has preserved the beauty of this snowscene by painting it.  He hasn’t made the snow pristine across the whole landscape.  There are already signs that the natural magic of the real situation is fading – this is a road, after all, and Monet has included the mud and the slush.  But art can transform the lowest subject, making even a slushy road worthy of attention so we can find beauty where we didn’t expect it.  In a painting, it’s still beautiful even when we’d be fed up with it in life.

Gardens are always beautiful

Gardening is also like that, isn’t it?  Rosewood customers are all garden-lovers, and people who love gardens appreciate them all through the seasons.  We can imagine what’s to come in spring even if it’s winter and there isn’t much to see.  Gardeners try to plant for year-round interest, of course.  But not everything can be evergreen, and in the depths of winter, snowfall looks wonderful on bare branches and earth.

Enjoy looking at our Monet for December and dream of spring – it’s only just around the corner.  And if a living wall might add a new dimension to your garden, bringing evergreen interest, then give Rosewood a call when we return to work in January.  We’re waiting to hear from you!