Puerto Vallarta’s acclaimed botanic gardens will be honored as the 2017 International Peace Garden, it was announced this week.
Each year the International Peace Garden Foundation recognizes a city for its contribution to “making the world more peaceful.”
Foundation President Paula Savage said the award acknowledges Puerto Vallarta’s respect for cultural diversity and human rights.
The Vallarta Botanical Gardens will become the 23rd peace garden and the second in Latin America. The gardens are located on five continents.
The foundation has its roots in World War II, when exiled Princess Juliana of Holland gave birth to a daughter. That day the Canadian Parliament declared the hospital wing where the child was born to be Dutch territory so that one day she would be able to inherit her country’s throne.
As an expression of her country’s gratitude and friendship, each year Queen Juliana sent thousands of colorful tulip bulbs to Ottawa.
In the same spirit, in 1990 Ottawa presented the United States with a tulip garden in recognition of the lasting friendship between the two countries, and the sharing of the longest undefended border in the world.
The International Peace Garden Foundation was founded in 1991, beginning a tradition of passing an International Peace Garden each year from one city to another, linking countries around the world in peace.
The Vallarta Botanical Gardens will build its special “peace garden” near its entrance in time for the February 2017 dedication.
These amazing gardens are spread over 20 acres in Cabo Corrientes, about 15 miles south of Puerto Vallarta. Opened in 2005, they showcase exotic trees and plants from around the world and focus on orchid conservation and propagation.
The Vallarta Botanical Gardens were selected in 2013 as one of the “Top 10 North American Gardens Worth Travelling For” by the North American Garden Tourism Conference’s International Tourism Award Jury (a program managed by the Canadian Garden Council).
Most tourists visit Puerto Vallarta for the sun, sand and night life, but over the past decade these gardens have become a “must see” on many itineraries.e