The Hesperides were nymphs who guarded paradise-like gardens in the distant West, or the edge of the world known to ancient Greeks. This garden had magical plants and beautiful flowers as well as trees that grew golden apples that granted immortality. Gaia, the Earth goddess, gave the golden apple trees to Zeus' wife Hera as a wedding present. One of his tasks of Hercules was to steal the golden apples by slaying their guardian, Ladon the dragon. Hesperia referred to the Western lands in general, but modern research has linked the Hesperidian gardens with land on the north coast of Africa or as far as Libya.
The vale of Enna is described as a beautiful valley full of many wildflowers. Bulfinch describes "a lake embowered in woods, which screen it from the fervid rays of the sun, while the moist ground is covered with flowers, and Spring reigns perpetual." Here, Persephone gathered wildflowers and was entranced by the magical narcissus. When she strayed from her companions, Hades, god of the Underworld, drove his chariot up from a hole in the ground and took her back underground. Modern Enna is in Sicily, which was supposedly linked to Greece by an underground river which Hades traveled.
One myth originates in Brasiae, Greece about Dionysius. As a baby, he and his mother, Semele, were put in a box by her father, Cadmus, king of Thebes. Cadmus was angry that his daughter had been impregnated by Zeus. The box was thrown into the ocean and eventually washed up on Brasaie. The citizens buried the dead mother on the plain. Her son was raised in a cave nearby. Afterward, the plain was, and still is, called the Garden of Dionysius.
The Kharites, or Charites, were the Graces. Usually depicted as three young maiden goddesses, there are many Kharites named in Greek mythology. They represented beauty, festivity and natural grace. They decorated the immortals and their feasts with flowers, especially roses and myrtle. The gardens they are associated with may be several different gardens around the world known to the ancient Greeks. Some references include the Erythraian gardens which are linked to the legendary hanging gardens of Babylon.