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Call of the Agave-reported missing 5/5/06 LbNA #17827 (ARCHIVED)

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Sep 1, 2005
Location:
City:Palo Alto
County:Santa Clara
State:California
Boxes:1
Planted by:Anna and the kids
Found by: Amanda from Seattle
Last found:Dec 25, 2005
Status:FFFFam
Last edited:Sep 1, 2005
Planted with saguaro and other rare cacti and succulents in the 1880s but neglected for decades, in 1997 the plot was more ruin than garden. Many of the original plants had died, while others were growing like weeds. The serpentinite rocks that outlined the garden's 58 beds were half-buried and the area was blanketed with brush and drifts of dead oak leaves.

Ordinarily, "I would have walked out there and said, 'This is shot. Somebody had something here once, but it's gone now,'" recalled Marsha McPheeters, a Healdsburg resident and member of the San Francisco Succulent and Cactus Society. "But the agaves called to me."

Nearly every month since then, she's made the five-hour round-trip to campus to join a small group of volunteers and staff who have patiently and painstakingly brought the Victorian garden back to life.

Perhaps the agaves will call to you too....

Find the entrance to this little slice of Arizona described above at a prominent University. Plant yourself between the pair of palms, facing north. At 345 degrees, about 33 steps from the paved walkway, you will note a moss covered leaning live oak. In a hole about 4 feet up lies your prize. Stamp in, listen to the agaves, howl at the moon... All is well.