Oh La La – It’s Ciscoe Morris!

After that, he says, “I just started working like crazy. I did everything, including pruning and tree-climbing. Finally someone told me they were hiring at Seattle University.”

Seattle University had gardens made famous by the twin visions of Fujitaro Kubota (creator of Kubota Garden) and Seattle U’s Father Nichols (a.k.a. Father Greengrass) who hired Mr. Kubota to unify the school’s landscaping.

“By the time I got there the gardens had gone downhill. But I could feel this great landscape inside the mess,” says Ciscoe. With support from the university and “help from a lot of people,” Ciscoe was able to bring back Seattle U’s famed gardens.

“We did something really cool. We went without pesticides. To start the program back in 1980 I brought in thousands of beneficial insects that we released on campus. At first the administrators thought I was out of my mind but finally the Vice President said I could go with my crazy idea as long as the students agreed.”

The university soon embraced Ciscoe’s approach. “We made that campus one of the coolest and most spectacular gardens in the Northwest.” Ciscoe also utilized design tricks to take care of weeds without the need for herbicides. “No one was doing things like that back then. It was fun and challenging and they are still using environmentally-friendly practices there. It makes me proud that Seattle University is a leader in the area.” The campus was designated as the first institutional Wildlife Sanctuary by the State of Washington and has won numerous awards, including a top sustainability award from the EPA.

Seattle University is also where Ciscoe met his wife Mary. She was part of the gardening crew and, like Ciscoe, was raised in a large family (three boys and two girls).

“She’s a fun-loving adventuress,” says Ciscoe of his wife. “She’s such a good gardener. We had to divide our garden into ‘his and hers,’ otherwise we’d murder each other!” he laughs.

“We travel a lot together, including leading garden tours around the world. We also take ‘exercise’ trips, like a 360-mile hiking trip in the French Alps, and 1000-mile bicycle rides through France and New Zealand.” He adds, “If I’m too busy she’ll go by herself.”

When asked about kids, Ciscoe replies, “All our kids have four feet. We have two dogs – they have the best lives of any dog in the world! They’re both from puppy rescue. We love them – they’re just the best.”

Ciscoe’s radio and television career started almost by accident. “Radio came first. An extension agent with a call-in show hurt his back and recommended me. That first time I had to say ‘I don’t know’ so many times it became a comedy routine.” He now has his own weekly radio show on KIRO 97.3 FM.

Television is a much more interesting story, he says.

“I got a hand-written letter asking me if I wanted to try out for a new TV show. I was really excited but I’d gotten hung up at Seattle U and was running WAY late. When I walked in someone takes my name and tells me to sit down. I wait until they say ‘go home.’ They hadn’t even asked me anything. I went home and said ‘I’m bummed.’ Just then the phone rings and an assistant producer I never met say they want me on the first show. The next day I’m waiting, the producer never looks at me so I introduced myself. ‘I’m Ciscoe.’ ‘You’re not Ciscoe,’ the producer says. Then he says, ‘I guess we’ve got to do it with this yayhoo.’ Well, I did it and it was a big success.” To this day he doesn’t know who that other Ciscoe was!