Curious about the agaves at McMenamins Anderson School (a botanic garden visit, of sorts)

Andrew and I have been talking about where our next home will be. We bought our current place back in 2005, we've been here 21 years. Back then our realtor wanted us to think of this as starter home, but gardeners don't think that way. We put down roots, real roots. 

We probably only have one move in us, well one active move. Where do we want to grow old? While I love the idea of living in Southern California, I'm aware that's an expensive place to be, plus, I'm a Washingtonian by birth. I was born in Eastern Washington, but my heart is in the Western part of the state, Seattle and the greater Puget Sound area. This is a long way of saying that we've been talking about moving north. So, when we were up in Seattle for the NWFG Fest, Andrew surprised me by saying something about how agaves don't grow that far north. I'm sorry, what!?!

He'd never seen an agave in Seattle, and he wanted me to tell him where they were growing. I started by listing friend's gardens; Scott's, Paul's, and Michelle's. Plus there are a couple agaves at the Amazon Spheres, and lots of them at Tacoma's Pt Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. As I checked off locations I got to thinking that the northern most agaves I knew of in Western Washington were at McMenamins Anderson School in Bothell, Washington, about 20 miles northeast of downtown Seattle. I hadn't been there since 2019 (post here)... so I decided a visit was in order.

I made the trip up on a very rainy day, Saturday, February 21st. Thank god I had an umbrella, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to pull out my camera. Check out those very happy Yucca rostrata... 

And the agaves, oh the agaves. These sexy beasts are Agave ovatifolia, probably 'Frosty Blue'.

They were perfection.

As I walked around photographing I realized this visit felt a lot like I'd shown up at a botanical garden. I'd hit a few of my favorite Seattle-area nurseries earlier in the day, but now I was out walking among the plants...

Nolina hibernica 'La Siberica' 

I do love it when a garden maker takes an element and runs with it. The McMenamins chain of restaurants, hotels, theatres and performance venues are also breweries and there are a couple wineries. They seem to have plenty of barrel rings and they're definitely making the most of them at Anderson School.

This was an unexpected bit of fun.

And speaking of fun... there's a pool and tiki bar on the premises.

Of course nobody wanted to brave the rain and sit outside.

Same Nolina as before, just from the other direction.

Lots of February color.

Yep, same Nolina again, but from yet another direction. What can I say, I love them.

This one—also a Nolina hibernica 'La Siberica'—looked like it was blooming thanks to a nearby light pole painted the same green.

Strappy goodness...

More agaves, I think this one may be A. 'Baccarat'.

Agave parryi truncata

And maybe Agave parryi v. couesii.

Pulled back, wide-angle shot.

Spikes! Colletia, maybe C. hystrix.

More barrel ring art...

Loquats (Eriobotrya japonica), are something else you don't see a lot of in the Seattle area. I tried to find one at a nursery once and that was nearly impossible. This one looks fantastic.

Cephalotaxus harringtonia 'Prostrata', I believe.

Magnolia laevifolia flower buds.

The wild meadow garden...

Cyclamen coum

Fabulous Schefflera delavayi and fun metal potted "plant".

Another S. delavayi and a blooming Edgeworthia chrysantha.

Daphniphyllum macropodum

Wow, a nice patch of Mahonia eurybracteata.

The stacked urbanite walls and wiggly metal work is such a warm custom touch.

As is this experimental succulent planting.

There are at least two Sarracenia bog plantings, I only managed to photograph one of them.

Oh my gosh! Hedera colchica 'Sulphur Heart' positively dripping with runoff from the roof, it seemed happy in those circumstances.

Okay time to wrap up the visit and head back to my car...

Just for the record. Agaves, growing happy at approximately 47.76° N latitude...

The Bit at the End

Check out this beautiful video of blooming agaves and the bats that seek out their nectar. Bat Conservation International is a group of folks who see agave restoration as an important part of ensuring the worldwide survival of bats—they're such interesting little mammals. 

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All material © 2009-2026 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude. 

Seattle's Palm Guy, and the palms he left behind

I'm not a dedicated palm tree lover I do appreciate them. I remember hearing about a garden in Seattle built by a palm tree aficionado, but I never bothered to follow through on checking it out, that is until our trip up to Seattle in February, when I finally made it a point to drive by.

Here's a shot of the man behind the garden, Alain Lucier. 

That photo accompanied a story I found online from Erik Lacitis for the Seattle Times Pacific NW Magazine. Erik called Alain Lucier the Palm Tree Patron of Seattle: "in his double-lot property in Fremont [a Seattle neighborhood], on the 4200 block of Third Avenue Northwest, he had 60 palms growing that he carefully tended. Big, tall palms. Little ones at 1 foot, just getting started. Lucier told me his philosophy: "If you can't grow palms where you are, it's not fit for humans" Lacitis goes on to write that Alain Lucier died of a heart attack Dec. 2 at age 72. The story is from May 2024, so that means he passed away in 2023. His partner, Christopher Ray, is quoted as saying he's doing what he can to keep the garden in order. Reading that sentence my heart went out to Mr. Ray. Imagine losing your partner and then also having to step in and take care of their garden. We intensive gardeners aren't setting our partners up for happy times after we pass on before them.

In the extra-wide hellstrip palms (Trachycarpus sp.) are joined by various Yucca and Dasylirion wheeleri.

Looking up at the house and front gate entry.

Pulled back. BTW, I once had a serious love for lion statuary by front entries. I dreamed that someday I would have lions. Thankfully that love dwindled. They still make me happy though.

Did you notice this more exotic palm to the right of the entry? I don't know my palm varieties at all, but it's obvious this one has suffered in the hard winters of late. It's still alive though!

The right front garden, palms and yucca keeping good company.

And on the left side.

A pulled back view from in the hellstrip.

Dasylirion wheeleri.

A wide view of the hellstrip.

And another look at the plantings in the front garden to the right side of the entry.

Driving up the street it was obvious Alain Lucier's love of palm trees eventually expanded beyond just his own garden. From the Seattle Times story: "Not satisfied with growing palms on just his property, he reached out to neighbors on that block. Lucier asked about letting him plant palms on the sidewalk strips on both sides of the street. All they'd have to do is water them. A few said no. Most agreed. He planted 40 of them at his own cost." Many of them are still standing.

A testament to one man's love of gardening and, in this case, palm trees.

I counted 26 Trachycarpus sp. growing on the block, outside of Alain Lucier's garden.

Well done Mr. Lucier!

The Bit at the End

This may only be accessible if you have a Facebook profile, but here's another look at Mr. Lucier's garden... and with a nice blue-sky background. 

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All material © 2009-2026 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.