Fifth Avenue agave plant grows to 22 feet after 28 years

Owner, fire district plan to start anew with seedling

By Matthew Nash • December 13, 2023 1:30 am
Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ After 28 years, Isobel Johnston’s agave plant started to bloom this summer to about 22 feet. “I never ever thought it’d get that tall,” she said.
Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ After 28 years, Isobel Johnston’s agave plant started to bloom this summer to about 22 feet. “I never ever thought it’d get that tall,” she said.

As one of nine children, 95-year-old Isobel Johnston said gardening while growing up was a way of life.

Through the years, she’s maintained that mindset by raising a large vegetable garden and caring for a plethora of flowers, from dahlias to roses. Possibly her largest gardening achievement in Sequim has been the massive Agave Americana, known less for growing in the cold, rainy Pacific Northwest and more so in warmer and drier climates.

It’s been a sight for years in front of her home along North Fifth Avenue in Sequim, and this summer it began its months-long bloom with a towering stalk that’s sprouted branches and blooms.

On Friday, Dec. 8, Clallam County Fire District 3 firefighters used a ladder truck to help measure the plant at about 22 feet tall.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Isobel Johnston’s agave plant towers over her along Fifth Avenue as she waves to the camera. Clallam County Fire District 3 leaders said they plan to help her remove the plant when she’s ready and the plant is done blooming.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Isobel Johnston’s agave plant towers over her along Fifth Avenue as she waves to the camera. Clallam County Fire District 3 leaders said they plan to help her remove the plant when she’s ready and the plant is done blooming.

Agave Americana succulents can take decades to bloom, and when they do, a stalk with branches comes up and out over several months and can grow upwards of 30-plus feet.

The bloom means the end of its life cycle though and will topple over if not removed.

Johnston said in a 2020 interview she wanted to see it bloom before she passed away, and last Friday said she’s surprised how tall it’s gotten.

“I never ever thought it’d get that tall,” she said.

Johnston retired to Sequim with her late husband William in 1991 after working as a stock clerk for Grays Harbor Chair and Manufacturing Co., and William for Hoquiam Plywood. He passed away at the age of 90 on Nov. 28, 2018, and about one month away from their 71st wedding anniversary.

The agave is one reminder of their time together as they bought it about 28 years ago for $1 at a Sequim garage sale.

Then the size of a baseball, the plant sat on their porch for a few years in a small pot before a growth spurt caused the couple to move an antique plow from a cement block circle and make room for the agave where it “just took off,” Johnston said.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Capt. Travis Anderson with Clallam County Fire District 3 steers the bucket of a ladder truck in order to help measure Isobel Johnston’s agave plant. It was measured to be about 22 feet tall on Dec. 8.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Capt. Travis Anderson with Clallam County Fire District 3 steers the bucket of a ladder truck in order to help measure Isobel Johnston’s agave plant. It was measured to be about 22 feet tall on Dec. 8.

Their son Kenneth Johnston of Tacoma said there were other plants in the cement circle at one point before it outgrew them, too.

There was also a watering system, but due to the agave growing so large and its sharp leaves, Isobel Johnston said she’s been unable to check to see if it still works.

It’s continued to grow and become a popular attraction for neighbors and passers-by, family members said.

“We are amazed (by the plant),” said Johnston’s daughter Christine Hallett of Shelton.

“It’s been a lot of fun for people in the community.”

Hallett said she feels her mom has a gift with plants.

“My mother is a self-made Master Gardener,” Hallett said.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Isobel Johnston’s agave plant was bought in the 1990s for $1 and was about the size of a baseball. It’s since grown to be 22 feet tall with its bloom, making the end of its life cycle.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Isobel Johnston’s agave plant was bought in the 1990s for $1 and was about the size of a baseball. It’s since grown to be 22 feet tall with its bloom, making the end of its life cycle.

“She can cut an apple, take out a seed and make something grow.”

According to agave specialists, it prefers rocky or sandy soil and full sun but not frost.

Last winter’s cold weather in Sequim hurt some of the leaves after holding up for decades, Johnston said.

Asked about her secret to the agave’s success, Johnston said she’s unsure. It could be Sequim’s blue hole sky, and/or the concrete barrier around it providing protection, she said.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Isobel Johnston’s agave plant was bought in the 1990s for $1 and was about the size of a baseball. It’s since grown to be 22 feet tall with its bloom, making the end of its life cycle.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Isobel Johnston’s agave plant was bought in the 1990s for $1 and was about the size of a baseball. It’s since grown to be 22 feet tall with its bloom, making the end of its life cycle.

One thing she is sure of is she wants to keep at least one of the babies (starts) below it to continue in the same barrier.

Clallam County Fire District 3 owns Johnston’s property, and staff have said they’re committed to helping her remove the plant when ready and keeping a baby there, too.