Strolling down the Prado toward the Laurel Street Bridge, I often like to follow my snout into the floral extravaganza known as the Alcazar Garden. Set within a courtyard behind the House of Charm building, it transports you to a Moorish-style garden from Seville, Spain—the Alcazar Castle Gardens to be exact. Richard Requa, the architect who designed the 1935 Panamanian Exposition, sought to replicate this Spanish garden in miniature, transposing its many pools of water into geometric flower boxes trimmed by boxwood hedges.

The large central flower beds are replanted at set times during the year to provide seasonal bursts of color and aromas. In fact, to get ready for the holiday season, 3,500 red and white Star Flowers have just been planted along with a variety of sages in the perimeter beds. This fall’s theme is Hummingbird Flowers, so don’t be surprised if you see a bunch of these speedy little critters darting in and out.

As you can tell from this picture, the Alcazar Garden is one of the most photogenic settings in the park, with colorfully tiled fountains and spectacular views of the California Tower. For warm afternoons, there’s even a cozy pergola, which is just a fancy word for a colonnaded garden structure covered by an open wood lattice and climbing vines (at least that’s what they said on HGTV the other night).