The English have always turned to their gardens or wooded "wildernesses" for contemplative consolation. To explore the meditative aspect of English garden-making, this work combines selected poetry, diary extracts, letters and more formal writing from the 16th through the 18th centuries with illustrations and the author's perceptive commentary. The English saw the impermanence of life in "weather-beaten heads" of flowers, and their gardens were often decorated with sundials and ruins. Addressing both admirers of the English garden and students of English cultural history, the text shows that the English emphasis on transience was a key to their gardening and literary styles.