The winter of 1806/1807, which Wordsworth and his family spent at Coleorton, often marks the termination of his “Great Decade.” But during this winter, Wordsworth began a study of the history of monasticism and hagiography, which formed the basis of the poetry he produced over the next five years. The origins of his concentrated interest in religious life are co-extensive with his design for Lady Beaumont's Winter Garden at Coleorton. This paper explores how, between 1806 and 1811, Wordsworth looked back on his gardening project as he composedThe White Doe of Rylstone(1807),The Tuft of Primroses(1808) and the Coleorton Inscriptions (1811). I argue that aspects of the garden propelled his study of religious life and that this study gave the rocks and trees of the garden new significance. He created prospects, in the garden and with his poetry, that were “unconscious of decay.” Such prospects resembled the endurance and stability of contemplation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]