This essay focuses on the three phases – or “gardens” – César Vallejo’s life and work. Vallejo’s poetry is divided up between three collections of poetry, Black Heralds (1918), Trilce (1922), and Human Poems (1938), he lived under the sign of three “isms” (modernismo, Dadaism and Trotskyism), and there were also three very important women in his life (Otilia Vallejo Gamboa, his niece; Otilia Villanueva Pajares, his lover in Lima; and Georgette Philippart, his wife). The significance of the poem “Embers” within the overall structure of Black Heralds is underlined, given that it was a love poem inspired by Vallejo’s niece, Otilia Vallejo Gamboa, and his use of the style and topoi characteristic of modernismo to portray that love is analysed. The love-affair that Vallejo had with Otilia Villanueva Pajares, a young girl who lived in downtown Lima, in 1920-1921, is seen as pivotal in the creation of a new poetic language in Trilce. Poems such as Tr. IX create a poetic pornography that depicts the sexual act in an unprecedented way. This essay concludes by alluding to Vallejo’s political interests and uses the poem “Salutación angélica” as evidence to propose that his covert affiliation with Trotskyism may have been more deep-rooted and long-lasting than has been assumed until now.