Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - Having just returned from a tour of the new state-of-the-art Botanical Garden within Mexico City’s Parque Bicentenario, I am more inspired than ever to continue our own work at the Vallarta Botanical Gardens.

For those interested in nature or plants, a visit to this magnificent creation is a must. The facility features several contemporary-style plant conservatories, each representing a different Mexican ecosystem or climatic zone: cactus, dry forest, oak/pine forest, temperate forest and my favorite—the orchid house.

The grounds are extensively landscaped with native Mexican trees, shrubs and flowering plants. The new Botanical Garden in Mexico City is open seven days a week, and admission is free at this time.

This project was funded by the Mexican government as part of the nation’s bicentennial celebration, and it is my hope that it will become a legacy for the future. The Botanical Garden is sure to inspire a new generation of plant enthusiasts and offers a spectacular showcase of Mexico’s biodiversity.

Closer to home, those of you who participated in our Facebook “Guess the First Rainy Day at the Gardens” contest will be interested to know that June 21 was the first day of measurable rainfall here in 2011. And it wasn’t just a trickle! Hurricane Beatriz dumped 1.7 inches on us as she crawled past Cabo Corrientes and on out to sea.

The plants in both our native forests and our cultivated grounds are showing renewed vigor and color. The Vanilla pompona, Coffea arabica, and Theobroma cacao throughout our Tropical Shade Crop Demonstration Grounds are flush with new life and growth.

I would also like to remind everyone that a grassroots beautification campaign is taking off in Puerto Vallarta thanks to dedicated members of the Puerto Vallarta Garden Club. The Club is looking for more civic-minded folks who would like to build a better Vallarta by beautifying its green spaces. The Club is also working toward our first-ever Puerto Vallarta Bougainvillea Festival, modeled on the successful Cherry Blossom Festival of Washington, D.C.

Floral festivals are proven tourism generators that bring millions of dollars to communities that cultivate these initiatives. We are thrilled to support this project, and hope that you will join those working toward it. For more information about the PV Garden Club, please visit their website at PuertoVallartaGC.org or contact Carlos Mendoza at (322) 223-6182.

For those of you who live in Puerto Vallarta, please visit us soon! For those of you elsewhere, please keep Mexico in your hearts.