Even in December, we’re experiencing Granada’s love of gardens. There are interesting and intricate gardens to behold across the city, though many are secret gardens.

The earliest Arab gardens in the Albayzin hold a special significance. Their geometric shapes and bountiful vegetation with a reflection pool created a sacred space evoking paradise imagined.

Strolling the Ahlambra y Generalife on a “monuments free Sunday” provides prime examples of garden beauty (scroll down to view the slideshow on this page).

In the Albayzin barrio, if the house is a “carmen” then, by definition, it contains a secret garden enclosed in high walls with no windows – the homeowner’s little slice of paradise.

These secret gardens contain palm and persimmon trees, juniper, orange and lemon trees, sunflowers, grape arbor, and more. Vines such as roses, plumbago, jasmine and bougainvillea, spill over the tall white walls into the street.

I imagine that being a gardener here would give one access to a slice of heaven every day.