It began with an email from a lady named Grace: "
Hi, Loree: I got your name from Paul at Xera Plants because I need to GET RID OF a 20-year-old large Agave macroculmis* in a public church garden that I planted and now the church property trustees want it GONE because a volunteer weeder called it a "Chain Saw Plant" after scratching her leg on its spines.
Question: Would you happen to know anyone in the Portland-metro area who would or could dig & remove one or actually two agave's -- they are free since I have no other place to put them."
Do I know someone? Oh yes, actually I do know someone. Remember my friend Eric from the Yucca rostrata rescue last September? (
blog post here) I forwarded Grace's email to Eric, to see if he wanted the agaves. Yes he did, challenge on!
I stopped by the property in early March, to see what the agaves looked like. This is the large one, measuring 6ft wide and 4 ft tall.
This is the "small" one, which is still over 3ft wide. I assumed it was a pup of the larger plant that had been moved, but Grace informed me that both plants were purchased at the same time. The smaller one was moved a around a few times though and didn't have the prime sun and heat-soak location that the larger one did (location is everything!).
Fast forward to last Sunday the 21st, aka moving day! When I arrived, Eric (kneeling in the lawn) and his friends Erik (L) and Greg (behind the agave) had already dug around large agave and were getting ready to hook up the tow rope and pull the plant free.
It was pretty firmly attached but rotated with each tug.
Once the base was loose Eric built a framework to help in moving it.
Proof that agaves hurt the ones who love them. This bloody arm belongs to Grace, the lady who bought and planted the agaves and emailed me in an attempt to find them a new home, rather than just letting them be cut up and disposed of.
There was a small pup that broke off the large agave, Grace will have a memento to grow on—check out that hook on one of the spines, she'd better be careful!
Ready for more pulling...
And it's free!
Not much of a hole where it used to be...
Now the hard part. How to get that plant into the back of that truck...
Things were progressing (slowly) when a neighbor showed up. He helped a bit, he had ideas, in the end he left wishing us luck.
Part way in and it became obvious the front part of the wooden structure needed to be cut down if the plant was going to be pushed in any further.
Ready!
Baby steps. We'd first moved the cement blocks under the flat way (baby lift), then the tall way (another baby lift), now it was time for the final push.
And it's in!
The drive to its new home was slow. I only saw one guy look at Eric's truck (and the agave) with surprise. Most people didn't even seem to notice.
A few photos of Eric's garden to set the scene...
Rescued Yucca rostrata...
And the masterpiece, Eric's custom built greenhouse—can you even believe this? Design—his own creation. Glass windows, made by his own hands. Copper shingles, cut, patinaed and attached by his own hands. Every single bit of this he did himself. I fully intend to invite myself over later in the summer and take many more photos of everything, these will have to suffice for now.
Inside...
And back outside. Orange arrow points to the hole Eric pre-dug for the agave. It's covered so his pups didn't fall in.
How many folks have a vintage telephone box in their garden? This was another rescue of Eric's, it involved a crane (which really would have made the agave rescue easier, maybe with a helicopter too).
Sadly I had to leave just after the agave had been backed into the drive (check out its
homecoming here), before it had been moved into it's final home—but Eric sent me a couple of photos. It looks like it's always been there doesn't it? It's also nearly impossible to tell just how big it is!
BTW, the second (smaller) agave rescue will be undertaken soon (No doubt Eric will be able to do that one on his own, with one hand tied behind his back) and it will be planted up in a large container, insurance in case this big boy decides he didn't like the move, or it triggers a bloom. Eric—you are amazing!
* Agave macroculmis was sold by Plant Delights Nursery: "
This large, fast-growing agave features wide blue-green foliage that develops into a spectacularly large clump to 4' wide. This durable agave seems more tolerant of adverse conditions than many that we have grown, perhaps partially due to its quick growth rate. The spiny teeth along the edges of the leaves are reminiscent of the mouth of a shark...for those that have seen one close up! Our seeds for this offering come from the famed Peckerwood Gardens of Yucca Do founder John Fairey." However that name is no longer considered valid and it now goes by Agave gentryi. Read more about the name change on the
San Marcos Growers website.
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