Gary, the blooming Christmas cactus, inside the entrance to the Mountlake Terrace Police Department, where he has served and sat for 40 years. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Gary, the blooming Christmas cactus, inside the entrance to the Mountlake Terrace Police Department, where he has served and sat for 40 years. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Christmas cactus named Gary is 40-year veteran of Mountlake Terrace police

He has grown a lot over the decades. Once a year he lights up the station in pink. He needs a haircut.

MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — To get to the front desk, first you have to get by Gary.

He’s a 40-year veteran of the Mountlake Terrace Police Department.

He wears blooms, not a badge.

What’s up with that?

Gary is a flowering Christmas cactus.

He’s as wide as he is tall, with hundreds of long spindly scalloped leaves dripping bright fuchsia flowers. He weighs about 30 pounds.

“He needs a haircut,” said Tammy Custer, evidence tech and animal control officer. “He’s hanging pretty low and getting heavy.”

She’s his caretaker out of commitment and love. It’s not in her job description.

“I’m looking for someone to give him a haircut,” Custer said. “Don’t apply for his haircut job unless you know how. You have to show me some credentials.”

Gary blooms in Mountlake Terrace. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Gary blooms in Mountlake Terrace. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

No joke. No pay, either.

Gary’s age and background are unknown, and not under investigation.

“It was gifted to us in the early 1980s. The person at the counter took it and started taking care of it,” Custer said.

Gary was an “it” then, just an ordinary houseplant. That is, until Custer came on board in 2008.

She took over caring for the plant, which was considerably smaller then, and named it Gary for no other reason than that she liked the name. No last name.

With her TLC, he just kept growing and growing. He blooms for about a month every year, lighting up the monochromatic lobby and littering pink on the gray carpet.

Even in his hot fuchsia glory, many people see Gary as just a nameless plant in the lobby. Most workers in the Mountlake Terrace Civic Campus don’t know he has a name.

He’s in the police station corner of the stylish, newish complex for the town (pop. 21,428, plus Gary) that sits between Lynnwood and Shoreline.

“He offers a moment of respite where a lot of serious business occurs in the name of public safety,” said Rikki Fruichantie, the city’s community relations specialist. (You might remember her as Rikki King, a Daily Herald reporter for nine years.)

Gary has the cushiest job of the 197 city employees.

“He just sits there all the time. That’s it,” Custer said. “Gary doesn’t have a life.”

His pot is on rollers, so she can slide him around.

Gary, the blooming cactus, lights up the lobby of the Mountlake Terrace Police Department. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Gary, the blooming cactus, lights up the lobby of the Mountlake Terrace Police Department. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

He’s mostly parked by the entrance, near a drug takeback box for residents to dispose of unwanted meds. Please don’t get confused and feed these to Gary.

Water is his drug of choice.

“I just do two pitchers full, every other Friday,” Custer said. “I just pour it in there. Whatever comes out of the sink. No plant food.”

She doesn’t talk to him.

“He has a mind all of his own,” she said.

Christmas cacti are known for longevity. There are accounts all over the internet about these diehard plants, which are really succulents that hail from the rainforests of Brazil.

The Bozeman Daily Chronicle had a story about generations of a family caring for a 145-year-old Christmas cactus that arrived by wagon train. A newspaper named the Daily Herald in Chicago reported a woman in Lisle, Ill., had a 100-year-old flowering plant.

A senior cactus named Martha made news in a Colorado paper. She and Gary would sure make a cute couple.

Gary already has some offspring.

Rebecca Guillen, the Mountlake Terrace public records officer, got a Gary start several years ago.

“It was a little branch falling off,” Guillen said. “I didn’t know if it would take. I put it in a little bit of water and took it home and now we have this beautiful plant.”

“I do not call it Gary Jr.,” she added.

Custer is pragmatic about the plant she named Gary.

“Don’t make him more than he is,” Custer said.

Is there a person, place or thing making you wonder “What’s Up With That?” Contact reporter Andrea Brown: 425-339-3443; abrown@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @reporterbrown.

Talk to us

More in Local News

Marysville firefighters respond to a 12-year-old boy who fell down a well Tuesday May 30, 2023 in Marysville, Washington. (Photo provided by Marysville Fire District)
Marysville firefighters save boy who fell 20 feet into well

The 12-year-old child held himself up by grabbing on to a plastic pipe while firefighters worked to save him.

Highway 9 is set to be closed in both directions for a week as construction crews build a roundabout at the intersection with Vernon Road. (Washington State Department of Transportation)
Weeklong closure coming to Highway 9 section in Lake Stevens

Travelers should expect delays or find another way from Friday to Thursday between Highway 204 and Lundeen Parkway.

Students arriving off the bus get in line to score some waffles during a free pancake and waffle breakfast at Lowell Elementary School on Friday, May 26, 2023, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
800 free pancakes at Everett’s Lowell Elementary feed the masses

The annual breakfast was started to connect the community and the school, as well as to get people to interact.

Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring speaks at the groundbreaking event for the I-5/SR 529 Interchange project on Tuesday, May 23, 2023 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
$123M project starting on Highway 529 interchange, I-5 HOV lane

A reader wondered why the highway had a lane closure despite not seeing work done. Crews were waiting on the weather.

Justin Bell was convicted earlier this month of first-degree assault for a December 2017 shooting outside a Value Village in Everett. (Caleb Hutton / Herald file)
Court: Snohomish County jurors’ opaque masks didn’t taint verdict

During the pandemic, Justin Bell, 32, went on trial for a shooting. Bell claims his right to an impartial jury was violated.

Gary Fontes uprights a tree that fell over in front of The Fontes Manor — a miniature handmade bed and breakfast — on Friday, May 12, 2023, at his home near Silver Lake in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett’s mini-Frank Lloyd Wright builds neighborhood of extra tiny homes

A tiny lighthouse, a spooky mansion and more: Gary Fontes’ miniature world of architectural wonders is one-twelfth the size of real life.

Will Steffener
Inslee appoints Steffener as Superior Court judge

Attorney Will Steffener will replace Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Janice Ellis, who is retiring in June.

Logo for news use featuring the municipality of Snohomish in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Report of downed hot air balloon turns up farmer’s tarp near Snohomish

Two 911 callers believed they saw a hot air balloon crash, leading to a major search-and-rescue response. It was a false alarm.

A few weeks before what could be her final professional UFC fight, Miranda Granger grimaces as she pushes a 45-pound plate up her driveway on Tuesday, July 12, 2022, in Lake Stevens, Washington. Her daughter Austin, age 11 months, is strapped to her back. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Daily Herald staff wins 5 honors at annual journalism competition

The Herald got one first-place win and four runner-up spots in SPJ’s Northwest Excellence in Journalism contest.

Most Read