Garden Tour, Part 2

Kathryn Nicolai narrates a garden tour through a town, sharing the sensory experiences and distinctive characteristics of each unique and tranquil green space encountered.

The podcast narrator describes visiting a variety of unique and tranquil gardens and green spaces throughout the town.

The tour starts at a charming cottage with an overflowing, fairy-tale-like garden filled with hollyhocks, foxglove, and fragrant plants.

The tour begins at a picturesque cottage with a garden reminiscent of a fairy-tale. Kathryn Nicolai observes a rose vine growing along the fence which guides her through the yard. The garden is filled with hollyhocks and foxglove, casting a whimsical aura. The roses, a deep red and as large as teacups, emit a true rose scent with a touch of sweet citrus, enchanting the visitors.

The group then visits a modern, neatly-designed rooftop garden that offers a sweeping view of the entire town.

The group's next stop is at a neatly-designed modern rooftop garden in the heart of downtown, a venue previously glimpsed by Nicolai from a café. The rooftop oasis features tall grasses, elephant ear plants, and other foliage contained in white planters, with polished stepping stones placed amongst crushed granite. Beneath a Japanese hornbeam is a long bench, inviting repose and reverence. Nicolai imagines the rooftop garden by night or adorned with winter decor, acknowledging that she might never see it in those conditions.

Other stops include a Victorian home covered in ivy and clematis, a vegetable garden on the edge of downtown, and the serene Sunken Garden in the town park.

As they continue, Nicolai introduces a few more horticultural highlights: a Victorian house veiled with climbing ivy and clematis, a downtown vegetable garden boasting raised beds filled with edible plants, and the awe-inspiring Sunken Garden in the ...

The narrator, Kathryn Nicolai, shares her profound sense of calm and the meditative effect the gardens had on her during her visit.

The narrator feels a profound sense of calm and relaxation as they wander through the various gardens.

Upon entering the gardens, Nicolai immediately experiences a steady calm that envelops her. The day dedicated to exploring the gardens deeply relaxes her, leaving a lingering sense of repose.

The sights, sounds, and scents of the gardens, like the rose scent and cascading fountain, have a soothing, almost meditative effect on the narrator.

The narrator is drawn to a rose vine adorned with roses as big as teacups and emitting a rich, red hue. Nicolai stops to appreciate the scent of the roses, cupping the flower in her hand and inhaling deeply. The scents of the gardens, particularly the roses, along with the sound of the water cascading in the Sunken Garden fountain, combine to have a soothing, almost meditative effect on her. These sensory experiences make the narrator sigh contentedly, further indicating the enchanting atmosphere of the gardens.

Interacting with the unexpected, like the gray cat in the cottage window, adds to the narrator's sense of wonder and joyful discovery.

A small yet meaningful interaction adds to Nicolai's sense of wonder and pleasure: a small gray cat with bright yellow eyes watches her from a cottage window, and as she nods at it, the cat seems to acknowledge her gesture with one of its own. ...

Kathryn Nicolai paints a vivid picture of various gardens she visits, which altogether offer her unique and varied perspectives of the town and its natural environments.

The gardens offer the narrator new and refreshing viewpoints of the town.

Nicolai cherishes the rooftop garden, seeing it as a place she might not revisit, which lent her an exclusive view of the town. She accessed this 'urban oasis' via an antiquated 'birdcage' elevator. Once in the garden, the contrast to the wild cottage garden was stark — this space was modern, with white planters filled with plants like tall grasses and giant elephant ears.

The rooftop garden, accessed by a charming "birdcage" elevator, gives the narrator an elevated, bird's-eye perspective of the entire village.

Sitting on a long bench beneath a Japanese hornbeam in the rooftop garden, Nicolai embraced the soothing sounds of the city beneath. With her eyes open to an elevated panorama, she took in an expansive bird's-eye view of the village — from the sprawling apple orchards in one direction to the end of the lake in the other, the inn on the lake, a train chugging its course, and the open doors of the library north of the park.

Visiting gardens at different times of day, such as the Sunken Garden which the narrator usually visits at night, reveals new dimensions to these spaces.

The narrator's experience with the Sunken Garden, typically a nocturnal visit, is refreshed by daylight. Approaching it from atop some stone steps in the light of day, Nicolai is granted a novel perspective of this familiar garden.

The gardens allow the narrator to imagine how the spaces might look and feel at different times of year, like decorated for winter or under the night sky.

The ...