Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses child loss and abuse.

An unnamed narrator laments that she will not be around to see the garden bloom in the spring. Still, the winter garden looks lovely in the frigid January of 1908. She will stay only long enough to bid her final farewell.

Emma braces herself to meet new clients; her company, Turning Back Thyme, has taken on the job of renovating the once-great gardens at Highbury House, designed by the renowned Venetia Smith back in 1907. It is February of 2021, and though Emma loves her work, she dreads the input of her clients, whose ideas are not always sustainable. Nevertheless, Emma admires Venetia, whose revolutionary designs made her famous on both sides of the Atlantic. Venetia left England in 1908 for America, never to return to her homeland. Emma is eager to accept the challenge of restoring the vast gardens, including the lovers’ garden, the children’s garden, and the winter garden, among others.

Emma returns to her rented cottage after an initial consultation with the owners of Highbury House, Sydney and Andrew Wilcox. She speaks with her parents on the phone, and her mother resurrects all of her old criticisms: Emma moves around too much; she should have attended university; her business is too unstable to support her.