Early in the Linnet's story, he describes Hans's garden in great detail. The beauty and purity of this imagery verges on hyperbole, which serves to foreshadow for the reader that, over the course of the story, the garden will likely face the threat of ruin.
After the Linnet's introductory "Once upon a time," he establishes the story's main character as "an honest little fellow named Hans." Although he for the most part seems ordinary and unassuming, Hans's main identifying feature is that he works in his garden every day. According to the Linnet, "there was no garden so lovely as his" in the whole countryside. He goes on to name all the flowers that grow there:
Sweet-Williams grew there, and Gilly-flowers, and Shepherds’-purses, and Fair-maids of France. There were damask Roses, and yellow Roses, lilac Crocuses and gold, purple Violets and white. Columbine and Lady-smock, Marjoram and Wild Basil, the Cowslip and the Flower-de-luce, the Daffodil and the Clove-Pink bloomed or blossomed in their proper order as the months went by, one flower taking another flower’s place, so that there were always beautiful things to look at, and pleasant odours to smell.
The teeming purity of the garden mirrors Hans's innocence, which sets him up to be exploited as the narrative progresses. The overstated perfection of the Linnet's description exaggerates the garden's true nature and, in doing so, subtly foreshadows that something will alter the state of Hans's garden—and, by extension, will impact Hans himself. By including a long list that establishes the garden's abundance and beauty at the start of the story, the Linnet signals to the Water-rat and the reader that this blissful paradise is unlikely to last.
