THE DESERT GARDEN
at the Anderson School
An Interview with Riz Reyes
B y P hil W ood
Allowed to seed in naturally, California poppy provides stunning mid-season color in the Desert Garden. (Photo by Riz Reyes)
A
new garden has taken its place in the
firmament of delightful spots for plant
fans to visit in our region. It’s the Desert
Garden at McMenamins Anderson School, in
Bothell. It features a striking plant display that
goes beyond any “drought-tolerant” garden I
have seen. The uncommon plant offerings and
textural combinations spark the imagination.
While visiting the Anderson School campus, be
sure to check out the wildflower meadow and
kitchen garden, too.
McMenamins is a Portland, Oregon-based
company (www.mcmenamins.com) known for
turning historic properties into hotel and
restaurant establishments, often surrounded by
intriguing grounds and gardens. The mastermind
behind the Desert Garden and its initial plant
selection was Erich Petschke, McMenamins’
corporate gardens manager (based in Portland),
who aimed for a diverse plant palette appropriate
to the open, fully exposed site.
Riz Reyes, the Anderson School’s gardens
manager—and a former horticulturist at the
UW’s Center for Urban Horticulture—brought
the vision to life and provides ongoing care. Riz
started working at the Anderson School in August
10 v Washington Park Arboretum Bulletin
of 2015 and began planting the garden shortly
before the grand opening in October of that year.
The garden has become very popular with
guests, who are surprised to see cacti and agaves
growing outside, year-round in the Pacific
Northwest.
I visited the garden and spoke to Riz in the fall
of last year.
Phil: How do you pull off a garden like this?
Riz: The first challenge was having to do a fall
installation with plants that do not like cold or
wet conditions; it was essential to provide excel-
lent drainage throughout. The existing soil at the
Desert Garden location—rocky, compacted, and
disturbed by construction—was broken up and
amended with several yards of pumice, worked in
to a depth of 18 inches. Then the site was graded
to create high and low areas, keeping in mind that
the soil would settle considerably. Following the
first round of planting, we top-dressed the site
with crushed granite.
Phil: What plants have proved to be good,
hardy performers?
Riz: The Mexican Agave ovatifolia (whale
tongue agave) is our largest and most imposing
species, and it’s showing little or no winter