Sokyo's Life in the English Countryside / Winter Edition  
In winter in England, if you don't wake up early, there isn't much time to enjoy the sunlight. For someone like me, who loves to sleep in, this season feels particularly dark and gloomy. While temperatures rarely drop below freezing or heavy snow falls, the rain clouds and sea winds can still make the winter air bone-chillingly cold. The cozy memories of winter spent lounging on a warm floor, reading comic books, are unimaginable here. Because of the cold tile floors, I need to have thick wool slippers and stockpile firewood throughout the year. To endure the long winter, locals often escape to warmer countries for vacation after the Christmas holidays. This winter, due to city lockdowns, even taking a flight for a getaway has become impossible, and activities like exercising at a nearby gym or enjoying a sauna are no longer options. However, one cannot simply spend the long winter cooped up at home. I will reveal a "secret garden" where you can feel the warmth of sunshine without traveling far!

I am a writer affiliated with the Treborth Botanical Garden in Wales. I capture the changing beauty of the garden through videos and illustrations, surrounded by all kinds of mysterious flowers and trees, drawing inspiration from nature is a great blessing. Each new season brings a different garden to the forefront, but when the cold winter arrives, most plants prepare for dormancy, shedding their flowers and fruits. During this time, the garden becomes quieter, but the glasshouse in the botanical garden shines even brighter. The glasshouse maintains the appropriate humidity and temperature year-round, catering to the needs of tropical plants that thrive in warm climates. It serves as a green sanctuary and healing space that melts away my frozen body and mind during the harsh winter.

On rainy days, if you're unsure where to go with your child, I recommend visiting the botanical garden. The greenhouse space, which warms both body and mind, provides a wonderful educational opportunity to observe exotic plants up close.

From early morning until sunset, the dazzling winter sunlight is welcomed while the cold wind is kept at bay by the glasshouse, creating an illusion of being in a completely different world. Holding a cup of tea made from quince picked in the late autumn garden, I step into the tropical greenhouse filled with lush green leaves, where the warm air from the heaters warms my cold cheeks. As I weave through the towering palm trees and banana leaves, I find a small pond surrounded by various ferns, reminiscent of a tropical rainforest. Immersed in the exotic scenery created by the diverse tropical plants, even the gentle winter rain becomes a romantic melody as it taps on the glass roof.

Upon entering the orchid room after passing through the tropical greenhouse, the difference in fragrance is striking. The sweet scent emanating from the newly opened orchid buds fills the air. The Stanhopea Oculata, with its pale banana milk color, releases a strong vanilla fragrance for three days as its flower buds open, making its presence known. This orchid, often called "Eye-spot Stanhopea" due to its round black eyes that attract pollinating insects, is native to Mexico, Colombia, and southeastern Brazil. The glasshouse, which maintains the right humidity and temperature for plants that once thrived in warm climates, becomes a perfect green sanctuary and healing space that melts away my frozen body and mind in the heart of winter.

There is a phrase "greenhouse plant." It can mean a child raised in the safety of their parents' care, untouched by the storms of the world, but it can also imply a lack of awareness of the realities of life. Stepping into a greenhouse filled with plants from various habitats, the phrase "greenhouse plant" feels both lonely and admirable. I can't help but feel a connection between the orchids that have flown from distant Mexico to settle in this Welsh botanical garden and my own journey of leaving Korea to establish roots here. The shared vulnerability to the cold deepens this sense of kinship. Plants neither lament nor celebrate their circumstances. They quietly endure, surrendering themselves to their environment, and on days like today, they gift unexpected sweet fragrances to those who visit the greenhouse.

In life, there come moments when the direction changes, and we must embrace new beginnings. While we may not know where each of our stories is headed, we will continue to navigate the natural course of life, even if the winds shift our sails. Just as the plants in a small greenhouse harmoniously coexist, may we also live in harmony with the diverse and precious connections we encounter on our life journeys, so that one day we may be remembered for the poignant fragrances we leave behind. The challenging year of 2020 has flowed away with the passage of time, and a new year has begun. I hope that fragrant flowers bloom in everyone's life. Happy New Year!!

As a writer affiliated with the Treborth Botanical Garden, being able to create freely in nature even in the depths of winter is truly a blessing.

Jeong Sokyo  
I majored in art in Korea. Due to morning sickness, I realized the importance of nature, which led me to decide to move to a small rural village that has preserved its Welsh charm for 200 years and is designated as a cultural heritage site.  
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