At the beginning of the short story, the narrator expresses admiration for the lush gardens that surround the mansion in which she and her husband will be staying for a summer. The grand home is located several miles away from the local village, and the “hedges and walls and gates that lock” (132) all inspire appreciation in the narrator. However, there appears to be something sinister lurking amongst the property, represented by the broken greenhouses that are no longer in working order.

A greenhouse is a place where seeds and seedlings are protected and nurtured, eventually growing into plants that can then be placed outdoors when the conditions are hospitable and when the plants are strong enough to withstand the elements. That the greenhouses are all broken suggests that growth cannot take place on this property and that vulnerable seedlings are unable to receive the care they need to thrive. The narrator’s failure to thrive, and her eventual dissolution under her husband’s care, is foreshadowed by the narrator’s mention of these broken greenhouses, which represent the country home that the narrator stays to recuperate from the birth of her baby.