Gardening
To Kincaid, the action of tending a garden has sacredness in it, because it is essential to the human experience, she feels. As in Eden, she feels a kind of paradise in her difficult work, trying to foster life from tilled earth. She isn't just an aesthetic gardener either; she deeply appreciates the personalities of her plants, and their histories on the earth, telling where they come from and why they are included in her garden.
The motif of aesthetic balance
This gardener paints a portrait of horticulture that is similar in vibe to Zen Gardening or even feng shui. The goal of her arrangement is to align the plants with her instinctual desire to see them in one place or another. Over time, the plants combine to create unique visual experiences, and she arranges her plants obediently, trying to let those experiences grow organically as she adds layers to the garden's aesthetic.
The motif of motherhood
Horticulture uses the word 'mother' as a technical term, but that doesn't stop Kincaid from exploring the theme when it comes up. Her flow of thought is never too far from the issue of motherhood, and over time, she starts to explore the essential connection between gardening and motherhood, which is to bring about and foster life. Thematically, the motif might remind readers of the fall of man, as she analyzes the brokenness of her world.
Portraits of power
Kincaid allows her thoughts to wander toward the realms of her plants's various origins. For instance, she will discuss politics in China while detailing her personal experience of that lavish habitat (she went to examine the horticulture once, and she tells that story). Through motif, her political opinions converge on another portrait of power, the power of nature and the power of life and survival on the earth, which she views to be more essential and important to human life.
Chaos and gardening
The garden is an action of order, because she implements her own order onto her domain, so that the domain is a reflection of her inner composure and repose. But, that comes at the cost of manual labor. To make the plants grow, she has to fend off multiple threats, like bugs, animals, molds, plant death, plant sickness, and she must be balanced in her care. Too much water, and the plants die. Too little, and they also die. She must encounter chaos with balance and action if she wants her plants to live.
