In 1930 Clare Leighton bought a plot of land on a sloping site in the Chilterns. Here, she and Noel Brailsford built a house and created a garden from the "rough meadowland". This book tells of a year in the life of that garden. The author portrays the seasonal changes, from the unfurling of the iris stylosa in the dead of winter, to the warmth of June when the garden belongs to the birds. The text is illustrated with Clare's own wood engravings.