Antigua
During conversations about her life in Vermont, Kincaid will often remember her life in Antigua. She remembers the differences in imagery and flora, but also, she remembers the differences between that human experience and this one. Therefore the imagery of Antigua serves as a metaphor for Kincaid's own life and experience. It tells us what she brings to the garden in herself, in all her memories of home. This defines her sense of paradise, no doubt.
Paradise imagery
There is undeniable paradise imagery in this book, like in the "Garden of Eden" sense. The first indication of this imagery is actually a non-image, when she says that she wants the garden she has always dreamed of. This is a way of saying that her personal garden is her attempt to curate her own paradise.
Vermont
Although her garden is diverse and multicultural, the basic building blocks for Kincaid's garden is the horticulture of Vermont. The native species are a tether that holds Kincaid in the present reality. They tie her back to her real environment and her real community, and they serve as reminders that her life is part of the balance of nature.
China
Finally, in order to finish the book in a powerful, beautiful way, she takes her publisher and a few friends to China to visit the botanical gardens there. Here are two reasons she might have done this: Firstly, as a celebration of gardening and horticulture, since Chinese gardening is one the oldest kinds of gardening, and of China is famous for it's unimaginable natural beauty. Secondly, she might have done it as a reference to feng shui, because she defines feng shui throughout the book by describing her own experience, so perhaps the imagery of China is a subtle allusion to the original feng shui theorists, the ancient Chinese.
