Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - Three world class gardens, the April 30-May 2 Vallarta Bugambilia Festival, and the annual election of officers are the subjects of the Vallarta Garden Club meeting, to be held at No Way José! on Thursday, April 16, 2015.

Member Bonnie Mott has just returned from a two month trip visiting South Africa and Morocco and will share information about the gardens she saw there.

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, Cape Town, South Africa

Called 'The Most Beautiful Garden in Africa,' Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden is one of the great botanic gardens of the world. Few gardens can match the sheer grandeur of the setting of Kirstenbosch, against the eastern slopes of Cape Town's Table Mountain. It was established in 1913 to promote, conserve and display the extraordinarily rich and diverse flora of southern Africa, and was the first botanic garden in the world to be devoted to a country's indigenous flora. A vast display of fynbos, the unique plant life of the Cape Flora area, along with the indigenous agapanthus bloom profusely over its 36 hectares (86 acres).

Vergelegen Estates, Near Cape Town, South Africa

A winery near Cape Town with 17 gardens, Vergelegen Estates is "Not to be Missed." Vergelegen has been nominated as a serial World Heritage Site and reflects an authentic depiction of Cape Cultural Heritage. In addition, Vergelegen boasts seventeen formal gardens that are intricately interwoven in the Cape Cultural existence. It is in a beautiful setting, with views over the surrounding mountains. Simple with bold and formal gardens combined with the informality of grasses and woodlands, its philosophy is to reflect the best from all of the historical periods in the past 300 years. Started in 1700s, the gardens today are spectacular (as is the wine produced in the Vergelegen vineyards.) An Octagonal theme is used throughout the Gardens with urns, giant trees and herbaceous borders. There is a White Garden with ponds, bulbs, herbs and a lavender walk. The garden also includes a Wetland Garden, Rose Garden and Yellowwood Walk.

The Jardin Majorelle in Marrakech

One of the most visited sites in Morocco, the Jardin Majorelle in Marrakech was made in the 1920s by the French painter Jacques Majorelle, with marble pools, raised pathways, banana trees, groves of bamboo, coconut palms, and bougainvillea. Perhaps unsurprisingly, as the garden was designed by a painter, the garden is composed and colored like a painting. Many of the built features were painted in a dark blue ('Majorelle Blue'). Water is an important feature of the garden - there are channels, lily-filled ponds and fountains. Majorelle was an avid plant collector. After years of neglect, the garden was then taken over and restored by the fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Berge.

The meeting will be held at No Way Jose! Thursday, April 16 at 11:00 am. No Way Jose! is located on the south side of downtown at 5 de Febrero #260, just over the Vallarta street bridge on your left heading south from the Malecón.

The Club is also holding its annual election of officers at the April 16 meeting. Please consider nominating someone including yourself. Please contact current chair Bonnie Mott suzkirk(at)hotmail.com, or former chair Suzanne Kirkpatrick suzkirk(at)gmail.com if you would like to know more.

Details of the April 30-May 2 Vallarta Bugambilia Festival will also be presented.