Five Master Gardeners, two hours, and one trailer load.

That’s what it took last week to remove the popular agave plant that’s been at the corner of North Fifth Avenue and West Spruce Street for nearly 30 years.

Ninety-six-year-old Isobel Johnston 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 Friday, Nov. 15, she and family members watched from the 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 upwards and outwards 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 “babies” 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, 2025 at the Woodcock Demonstration Garden, 2711 Woodcock Road in Sequim.

Volunteer Nancy Kohn said Master Gardeners don’t typically do 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 southwestern portion of the United States, 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 likely 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 said previously that she is one of nine children and grew up gardening. In the spring and summertime, 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 passed away at age 90 on Nov. 28, 2018, took out an antique plow from a cement circle to make room.

Their daughter Christine Hallett said that 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 two feet and still growing, Clark said.

“You would need a backhoe to take out the roots,” he said.

When asked by Hallett 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.

Sequim Gazette file photo by Matthew Nash Isobel Johnston, now 96, waited 28 years for her agave plant to bloom. A stalk sprang up in the summer of 2023 and grew up to 22 feet by the winter before falling over during a storm earlier this year.

Sequim Gazette file photo by Matthew Nash/ Isobel Johnston, now 96, waited 28 years for her agave plant to bloom. A stalk sprang up in the summer of 2023 and grew up to 22 feet by the winter before falling over during a storm earlier this year.

Sequim Gazette file photo by Matthew Nash Isobel Johnston watches as Master Gardeners Keith Dekker and Gordon Clark take out the agave plant on Nov. 15 that had sprouted and fallen many months prior.

Sequim Gazette file photo by Matthew Nash/ Several baby agave plants remain for Isobel Johnston’s cement planter. The agave grew for 28-plus years before sprouting in the summer of 2023 and its stalk falling January 2024. Clallam County Master Gardeners agreed to help remove it due to Johnston’s request and so that they could sell some of the baby agaves at their annual benefit plant sale.

Sequim Gazette file photo by Matthew Nash/ Clallam County Master Gardeners, from top left clockwise, Gordon Clark, JoAnn VanAken, Keith Dekker, Nancy Kohn and Robb Drake helped remove most of the agave plant growing at Isobel Johnston’s house for 28 years. Kohn said Master Gardeners don’t typically do house calls, but they wanted to see how they could help Johnston especially because she requested them.

Clallam County Master Gardener JoAnn VanAken shows one of the many “baby” agave plants they recovered from Isobel Johnston’s yard after her original plant grew to 22 feet. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash

Sequim Gazette file photo by Matthew Nash/ Clallam County Master Gardener Keith Dekker looks at the residue left from his chainsaw after cutting down most of the giant agave plant on Fifth Avenue on Nov. 15.

Sequim Gazette file photo by Matthew Nash/ So long as they survive being transplanted from their Fifth Avenue home, many agave plants will go on sale at the Clallam County Master Gardeners’ benefit plant sale in May 2025.

Sequim Gazette file photo by Matthew Nash/ Clallam County Master Gardeners fill a trailer with the massive agave plant that sat in Isobel Johnston’s yard for 20-plus years.

Sequim Gazette file photo by Matthew Nash/ Clallam County Master Gardener Nancy Kohn moves one of the many pieces of the agave plant on Nov. 15.

Sequim Gazette file photo by Matthew Nash/ At one point, Isobel Johnston’s agave plant grew to 22 feet tall, but fell in January 2024. Clallam County Master Gardeners agreed to remove it, while leaving several baby plants, and taking many others to sell at their annual plant sale.

Sequim Gazette file photo by Matthew Nash/ This agave plant, pictured in 2020, was bought 29 years ago by Isobel Johnston when it was about the size of a baseball.

Sequim Gazette file photo by Matthew Nash/ This agave plant, pictured in 2020, was bought 29 years ago by Isobel Johnston when it was about the size of a baseball.