Claude Monet's Water Lily Pond

NEW YORK (AP) -- Claude Monet once said he owed becoming a painter to his love for flowers.
A new exhibition at the New York Botanical Garden explores the French impressionist artist's passion for his beloved water lilies, irises and gardens and how they influenced his art.
"Monet's Garden" runs through Oct. 21. It evokes the artist's garden at Giverny (gee-vuhr-NEE'), his home from 1883 until his death in 1926.
The exhibition features a seasonally changing display of flora. The spring display includes a kaleidoscope of poppies, roses, foxgloves and irises inside the botanical garden's Victorian glasshouse.
It also includes two scarcely seen garden-inspired paintings, Monet's wooden palette and rare photos of Monet in his garden. There are also 30 photographs of Giverny by Elizabeth Murray, who's recorded Monet's flower oasis for 25 years.