Por: Christopher Jacobs
We headed to Denver this month to attend the 2025 conference of the American Public Gardens Association ( APGA ). The “Mile High City” is famed for being a welcoming and inclusive place to visit. It was, therefore, the perfect venue for this year’s conference, which brings together botanical garden and arboretum professionals from across the USA, Canada and, increasingly, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Jesús Reyes (VBG Director and Co-Founder), Tessa Lee (incoming Executive Director), Dr. Cristóbal Sánchez (Head of Botany) and Chris Jacobs (Head of Development) made up the Vallarta Botanical Garden‘s representation at the conference, which kicked off June 2nd and concluded June 5th.
At this year’s APGA, Dr. Sánchez presented two wellreceived works. The first, entitled “Conservation of Critically Endangered Oaks of Western Mexico”, outlined our successful efforts to preserve two threatened oak species endemic to western Mexico: Quercus tuitensis and Q. cualensis.
Por: Christopher Jacobs
We headed to Denver this month to attend the 2025 conference of the American Public Gardens Association ( APGA ). The “Mile High City” is famed for being a welcoming and inclusive place to visit. It was, therefore, the perfect venue for this year’s conference, which brings together botanical garden and arboretum professionals from across the USA, Canada and, increasingly, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Jesús Reyes (VBG Director and Co-Founder), Tessa Lee (incoming Executive Director), Dr. Cristóbal Sánchez (Head of Botany) and Chris Jacobs (Head of Development) made up the Vallarta Botanical Garden‘s representation at the conference, which kicked off June 2nd and concluded June 5th.
At this year’s APGA, Dr. Sánchez presented two wellreceived works. The first, entitled “Conservation of Critically Endangered Oaks of Western Mexico”, outlined our successful efforts to preserve two threatened oak species endemic to western Mexico: Quercus tuitensis and Q. cualensis.
The second was a one-hour session entitled “Seeds of Change: The Contribution of Hispanic Communities in North American Gardens”. One of the other main talking points in Denver were the US federal funding cuts, which have impacted many of our American counterparts.
2025 is proving to be a challenging year, but spirits were still high as Development teams shared new and creative ways to engage their supporter and member base. We thought that the Mexican Lotería nights held at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, featuring games, mezcal tasting and dancing, were a particularly fun and engaging way to bring together their community.
What kind of new and engaging events would you like to see at Vallarta Botanical Garden? If you have any ideas, I’d love to hear from you at [email protected]!
