Loreena's first full project at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios near Bath, England, this five-track EP began as an exploratory exercise and was recorded over five days in July 1995. A Winter Garden features musical collaborations between McKennitt, her touring band and an international cast of guest artists.

The innovative, brightly-hued arrangements of three Christmas favourites (“God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen”, “Good King Wenceslas” and “Coventry Carol”) conjure up a distinctly Middle Eastern musical atmosphere in which, says Loreena, “I hope some of the scent of frankincense and myrrh comes through”. Elsewhere, Loreena's own haunting musical setting of the traditional English lyric “Seeds Of Love” and the Archibald Lampman poem “Snow” (an earlier recording of which is found on her second album) offered hints as to the directions The Book Of Secrets would later take.