Secret gardens are found through unexpected thresholds, urban walls, closed doors. These places are only seen by the sky, visited by night creatures, held in our minds. The garden is an idealized nature, a respite from our modern life. We recreate the living landscape in places where it has been, very recently, forgotten. We view our gardens as an idea of perfection, abundance and life. What is your idea of perfect nature, your secret garden? Has it been there all along? It’s an answer to a question you didn’t know you had. As the plants come back to or cities, our ecologies leave conceptual wildernesses to be reborn in our backyards. We experience transformation through life, the alchemy of photosynthesis, the rose scent, the wormy earth. Exposure to a living environment is an essential emotional and bodily need.

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“A beautiful garden represents the permanent presence of nature, but reduced to human proportions and put to human use. It is the most effective refuge from the aggressiveness of the modern world.” —Luis Barragán