The view of the top of the back wall and the neighbours’ gardens. Note the pink bougainvillea branch on the right.

Many of the gardens in Spain are hidden in courtyards or behind houses, and are not easily visible from the street. Luckily, my house in Spain (okay, so it’s not really MY house) has a great view, and by leaning over the back wall I can look into the neighbours (somewhat neglected) gardens. These gardens mostly contain overgrown fruit trees such as oranges and nispiros, a cactus or two, and grapes. Last summer there were lots of pot plants, but they are gone now.

Apparently prickly pear cactus will grow wherever a piece of it falls, so one of my friends has been throwing pieces of cactus over the back wall to deter intruders. I laughed when he told me, but his experiment has been a success, and there are now two small cacti growing.

My friends have managed to grow a gorgeous garden – featuring geraniums, hibiscus and bougainvillea – in very small area at the side of the deck. My favorite is the gardenia. Although it only started to bloom a few days before we left, the scent of each new flower would explode as they unfolded.

The small garden on the sunny side of the deck.

Loved the gardenia

The back of my house is covered with bignoia vines, which bloom in July and August. I am hoping that my friends will send me pictures of what it looks like in bloom.