While in Mexico, I had the opportunity to tour the Vallarta Botanical Gardens. There are nearly 80 acres of lush tropical foliage—most of it native-- at 1,300 feet above sea level, located about an hour outside of Puerto Vallarta. The rich diversity of flora and fauna-- most of which I didn’t even come close to recognizing—was mind boggling. And the colors were enough to put Pantone to shame!
Everything was so lush and exuberant in its growth … it was a shock to recognize things I had only grown as small house plants looking more like “old growth” in their native environment.
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| Look Ma! Free-range House Plants! |
And even the zinnias seemed to be on steroids.
The Botanical gardens also serve as a bird sanctuary. We observed hummingbirds and several species of jays feeding among the flowers. There were some spectacularly colored blackbirds with yellow patches on their shoulders, but even more yellow when they unfolded their wings to fly. Unfortunately, they were a bit camera shy and I didn’t get a good photo of them.
The Guinea hens where a different matter. Intent on some sort of mating ritual that seemed to include zigging and zagging around visitor’s legs, the Guinea hens were the opposite of shy. We had to keep from tripping over them.
But you don’t have to travel to the gardens to see spectacular floral displays. This was just a random tree, shading random street parking:
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