A Living Museum, but there’s more to us than meets the eye!

Our 2025 Annual Report is your way into the fascinating stories, facts, and figures behind the Vallarta Botanical Gardens.

By Christopher Jacobs

Julio 3, 2026

Twenty years ago, the land where the Vallarta Botanical Gardens now stand was a patchwork of cow pastures and agave fields. Today, it is home to one of the most diverse and ecologically significant plant collections in western Mexico — a living museum where over 1,200 species of plants and hybrids are cultivated, documented, and cared for year-round.

But here’s the thing about the Vallarta Botanical Gardens: there is far more to us than meets the eye! Our gardens are beautiful, yes — but beneath the surface, there is a depth of conservation work, scientific research, and ecological stewardship that most visitors never fully glimpse. Our 2025 Annual Report is our attempt to change that. It’s a window into everything that goes on here, and we think you’ll find it full of stories and facts that surprise you.

The Gardens by the numbers

More than 1,000 different flowers bloom across the Gardens throughout the year — meaning that whenever you visit, you are almost guaranteed to see something in bloom that wasn’t there on your last visit. Our collections include 30 species endemic to Jalisco, representing approximately 10% of the state’s endemic species. Endemic means that these species are found nowhere else on the planet but here.

But perhaps the most striking figures relate to conservation. Our collections include at least 60 species listed as “at risk” by Mexican authorities, and over 250 species classified as ‘Vulnerable’, ‘Endangered’ or ‘Critically Endangered’ on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

For many of these plants, the Gardens are not simply a display case — they are a lifeline!

Writing the book on rare plants

One of the lesser-known aspects of our work is research — and it’s one of the things that makes the Vallarta Botanical Gardens truly unique. In many cases, no documented method exists for propagating the rare native plants of western Mexico. Our team researches how to cultivate and maintain these species, creating knowledge that can be shared with botanical institutions worldwide and contributing directly to global conservation efforts.

This is why we describe ourselves as a living museum. Like a traditional museum, we document, preserve, and share knowledge. Unlike a traditional museum, our collection grows, blooms, and evolves with every passing season.

Your way in

Our 2025 Annual Report is packed with the stories, facts, and figures that reveal what the Vallarta Botanical Gardens are truly all about — from our plant collections and conservation research to our education programmes, visitor experience, and the community that makes it all possible. If you’ve ever sensed that there’s more to this place than meets the eye, the Report is your way in.

Read the full 2025 Annual Report