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.