SEQUIM — It took five Master Gardeners two hours and one trailer load to remove the popular agave plant that’s been at the corner of North Fifth Avenue and West Spruce Street for nearly 30 years.
Isobel Johnston, 96, had been cultivating it for 28 years before it bloomed last summer and towered up to 22 feet.
In recent years, she had said it was a bucket-list item to see it grow a stalk and bloom before she passed away. On Nov. 15, she and family members watched from a window as Clallam County Master Gardener volunteers meticulously cut and removed the massive agave.
“What a job!” Johnston said. “I’m so glad that they’re doing it.”
Johnston, an avid gardener her whole life, specifically requested the Master Gardeners’ help with removing the plant after it bloomed. Her plant’s 22-foot flower stock grew upward and outward with numerous branches from summer into fall 2023.
Once fully bloomed, the stalk would have died and fallen anyway, but in January, subfreezing temperatures and snow brought it down.
Agave Americana succulents can take decades to grow a stalk and then bloom over several months.
While last summer’s bloom meant the end of Johnston’s original plant’s life cycle, several other agave plants were discovered in the planter.
The Master Gardeners — Gordon Clark, Keith Dekker, Robb Drake, Nancy Kohn and JoAnn VanAken — uncovered several baby plants when they got deeper into removing the original agave.
Any plants they remove that survive will go into the Master Gardeners’ annual plant sale on May 3 at the Woodcock Demonstration Garden, 2711 Woodcock Road in Sequim.
Volunteer Nancy Kohn said Master Gardeners don’t typically perform house calls, but they wanted to see how they could help Johnston, especially because she requested them.
“We want to do our part for the community,” she said. “We’re glad she trusted us, and we appreciate the chance to perpetuate Sequim history.”
Sight to see
Families, commuters and neighbors have taken note of Johnston’s plant for decades.
Agave Americana succulents are more common in the Southwest, but Clark said they’re “one of the more drought-tolerant plants there is” and “hardy for our zone.”
The Master Gardeners said a few reasons Johnston had success growing an agave in Sequim could have been its direct sunlight, excellent drainage and her home blocking the wind.
“She was also very loving,” VanAken said.
Johnston is one of nine children and grew up gardening. During each spring and summer, she tends to a vegetable garden and various flowers.
The Johnstons retired to Sequim in 1991.
The agave was purchased at a Sequim garage sale for $1 more than 29 years ago when it was the size of a baseball. It sat in a small pot for a few years before growing too large, so her late husband William, who died at age 90 in 2018, took out an antique plow from a cement circle to make room.
Their daughter Christine Hallett said watching the Master Gardeners remove the agave was “bittersweet” as it was her mom’s “dream to see it bloom.”
“To see it go from a garage sale plant to this is amazing,” she said.
What’s next?
While the baseball agave is grown and gone, there are more on the way.
Clallam County Fire District 3 leaders, who own Johnston’s property next door to the district’s Sequim Station 34, asked that at least one agave baby remain for the future. There are several now.
Clark said none of the existing plants have been cut away from the roots, so they should be fine so long as there isn’t another harsh winter like in 2023.
“It will definitely grow out,” he said.
The center of the remaining plant that was cut will callus over and brown, and it’s rooted down, likely 2 feet and still growing, Clark said.
“You would need a backhoe to take out the roots,” he said.
When Hallett asked if there were any surprises, Clark said he was surprised not to find any mice or other critters living inside. He and Dekker did much of the chainsaw work to remove the large leaves, and Dekker said he was surprised “how juicy” the plant was when he made cuts.
Water poured out from the chainsaws as they cut, which surprised Johnston.
“I can’t believe the water that’s coming out,” she said while watching them.
Master Gardeners wore long sleeves, pants, gloves and masks as the agave’s sap can be irritating to the skin. They took the trimmings to Lazy J Tree Farm for mulching.
Master Gardeners discovered the sprinkler system underneath the agave that Johnston had been unable to access due to the sharp leaves. However, it won’t be needed due to the planter’s good drainage, they said.
“She won’t need to do much,” Clark said.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. He can be reached by email at matthew.nash@sequimgazette.com.
