Novato resident Wendy Albrecht is proudly a “devoted fan” of Las Guitarras, an award-winning Mexican restaurant started in 1978 by Elena Pantoja and her late husband, Roga Pantoja. Her son, David Pantoja, and daughter, Lisa Garcia, help Elena Pantoja, now 90 years old, manage the daily operation. (The staff is made up of many family members.)

Las Guitarras is nestled in a two-story Victorian-style home on the eastern edge of Old Town Novato. Its patio is filled with wrought iron tables with colorful umbrellas placed around the splashy fountain, an artifact from Mexico, where children play with floating rubber duckies.

Here, on the patio, diners can tuck into their favorite south-of-the-border dishes, sit back and enjoy the annual holiday appearances of Santa, the St. Patrick’s Day leprechaun and the Easter Bunny, and stop in for the Sip & Paint events or Sip & Shop artisan markets.

Las Guitarras “is the kind of place where you’re greeted like family, whether it’s your first visit or your 50th,” Albrecht said.

Since November, though, most eyes have been trained on the large Agave americana Linnaeus, or century plant, near the patio’s front gate, where a 25-foot-high spike has shot up from the plant’s 8-foot-wide rosette base.

The mother agave, once a 1-foot-high “pup,” or offspring, was planted in the late 1990s by Roga Pantoja years after the Pantojas opened the restaurant.

“The bloom is underway now, and we’re cherishing each day of it,” said Albrecht, adding that the family plans to gently care for and replant the healthy pups the mother agave leaves behind once it dies “so future generations can continue to enjoy this remarkable legacy.”

After some research, Albrecht figures that the buds might open in early June, followed by the stalk’s full bloom in mid-to-late June before the bloom fades, the stalk dies and the rosette base starts to weaken around July, ultimately leading to the death of the mother plant.

“I personally find the century plant resilient, noble and deeply inspiring,” Albrecht said. “After nearly three decades of enduring floods, droughts and even being carved into by passersby, she’s offering her one and only bloom — a breathtaking gift to ensure the next generation thrives.”

And the next generation is already in place because, as the mother plant has grown, several of the “pups” have already emerged, perhaps one day to take their “mother’s” place.

Show off

If you have a beautiful or interesting Marin garden or a newly designed Marin home, I’d love to know about it.

Please send an email describing either one (or both), what you love most about it and a photograph or two. I will post the best ones in upcoming columns.

Your name will be published, and you must be over 18 years old and a Marin resident.

Don’t-miss event

• Learn how to keep your roses thriving during the summer heat and other summer tasks from Suzanne Horn, a master consulting rosarian, at the Marin Rose Society’s monthly program at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Marin Art and Garden Center at 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. in Ross. There will be a special raffle of 20 rare roses from Sebastopol’s Friends of Vintage Roses. Admission is free, and light refreshments will be served. Go to marinrose.org.

PJ Bremier writes on home, garden, design and entertaining topics every Saturday. She may be contacted at P.O. Box 412, Kentfield 94914, or at pj@pjbremier.com.