One of the many attractive features of El Charco del Ingenio is the Conservatory of Mexican Plants. Architecturally interesting, it provides filtered sunlight, moist air and warmth for a large collection of common and rare plants.

Outside the conservatory are beds of plants adapted to the poor soils and dry climate of the Bahio. Inside, a variety of protected microclimates have been established, from dry and warm to riparian.

Hundreds of species inhabit the conservatory and its surrounds. It would be impossible to photograph and describe even a tiny fraction of them. This is a place you simply have to see for yourself.

Here we have one of the yuccas, a type we called Bottle Palms in California, beside an agave in bloom, it's 20' flower spike framed in the doorway. OK. That's two plants. Only 498 to go.

Through the door, the view leads to a natural landscape; chollas outlined against the sky and huizaches in the background.

Cacti are the most represented group; a seemingly endless progression of variations in colors and shapes .

I haven't been able to figure out how to photograph some of the most interesting forms: sinuous cacti that run along the ground ten feet or more, arboreal cacti that hang from branches like vines.

Almost any time you visit, you'll find cacti in bloom.

To me, it seems almost impossible that these tough, thick, spiky plants produce such beautiful, delicate flowers. Most blooms last only a day.

Succulents store water in their leaves, giving them a fleshy, turgid look. There are almost as many of them here as there are cacti.

A stream runs through the conservatory, providing habitat for water plants.

The water is recirculated through filters by a solar-powered pump. El Charco as a whole produces a negative carbon footprint. (Try to get your head around that concept,)

Outside the conservatory, hardier plants grow in attractive groupings. Flagstones invite strolling, benches allow visitors resting places.

The conservatory compresses a broad ecosystem into a tiny space. In the image above, those are cattails to the right of the cacti. Not many places in the world where you can see that.

I'll return often to photograph the plants. Many photographers do.

Here we have El Guapo with a huge pile of gear looming over an innocent blooming cactus. He is cursing his 4X5 view camera, hoping it'll become intimidated and start cooperating with him.

Ah, Paul. "'Tis a poor workman, who blames his tools."