A passion for plants and for Mexico.

• Author: McDonnell, Sharon
• Position: BOTANY

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Shocked that amid a region of such astounding natural beauty and biodiversity, Puerto Vallarta had no botanical garden, an American expatriate created one from scratch, entirely with private fiends. But the Vallarta Botanical Gardens, which sprawl over twenty acres in the Sierra Madre Mountains about 1,300 feet above sea level, are more than a breezy Shangri-la hideaway. Hundreds of plant species, from orchids and native flowering trees to blue agaves, all delight the eye and soothe the soul. The gardens are also a research center for the study and propagation of native Mexican plants, particularly orchids.

Robert Price, a former restaurant owner from the United States, and his mother, Betty Price, an avid gardener, are the creators of the Vallarta Botanical Gardens. With over two million dollars in private funds, they had a road chiseled out of the mountainside, brought in water and electricity, and laid out a series of trails. Today, the Gardens house a vanilla orchid conservatory; blue agave fields; cactus gardens; bromeliads; roses; a "Chocolate, Coffee, and Vanilla Garden;" a tree fern grotto; palm gardens; a tropical fruit tree grove; and a carnivorous plant collection.

"What the Vallarta Botanical Gardens has managed to achieve in the absence of government support is truly impressive, and the energy that Robert and the rest of the staff put into maintaining it is not rivaled by any other garden of its size," says Dr. Justin K. Williams, associate professor of botany at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, and former director of Zilker Botanic Garden in Austin, Texas. "Having directed a botanical garden myself, I am familiar with the energy required to maintain a constant and vigilant eye on the daily maintenance associated with a public garden."

Dr. Williams is now the director of research for the Vallarta Botanical Gardens. He praises the Garden's location and research capacity and plans to bring students here as part of a joint research effort with his university. "There are very few ecological research facilities in Mexico and even fewer botanical gardens. Much of the mountains outside of Puerto Vallarta are still completely unexplored botanically. The location [Price] picked is excellent because it is in a transition zone between the oak and pine forest and tropical lowlands called an ecotone, so palm trees grow next to pine and oak trees in this unique transzonal area. Resources at the garden...