getty center garden in winter
John and I spent the holidays at his aunt’s house in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Northridge. Christmas at her house is a family affair, but with family dispersed around the country, it’s not always as raucous as it sometimes has been. This year we were thrilled to have a big contingent of immediate family, including Jenny and her mad scientist husband from South Carolina. Past readers of this blog might recognize Jenny’s name as a sometimes contributor of photos and comments. It was great seeing you, Jenny! (And Joe too!)
Friday, on our return home, John and I stopped by the Getty Center for an exhibition of the photographs of Carleton Watkins (more on that show in a future post). To visit the Getty without taking in its gardens would be unthinkable, and we spent more time outdoors than we did in the galleries.
It had rained the previous two days, clearing out the garbage in the air. The views from the hilltop were spectacular. Here you can see the skylines of Century City in the foreground against downtown in the distance.
This is the view to the southwest, across Santa Monica Bay. The distant land mass (straight ahead and to the right) is Catalina Island, forty-plus miles away.
The visit last Friday was the first time we’d visited the gardens of the Getty Center during the winter. The Robert-Irwin-designed Central Garden advertises itself as “always changing, never twice the same,” so this would be a good chance to see it during a time that was less pornographic with flowering plants.
Still, there were flowers. This is the core planting of clipped azaleas in the central water feature. In fact this was the first time I’d been there when the little mazes were showing any flowers. In addition to the blooms, the foliage of one of the two azalea varieties darkens and reddens in the cooler winter weather, making the planting appear to be comprised of interlocking rings of different plants.
If you click on the image to enlarge it, you’ll see that the plants could stand a little bit of clipping. The azaleas are little floating islands in the water, so keeping them trimmed involves a little more than strolling over them with hedge clippers.
John’s aunt volunteers at the museum, and once she’d asked one of the groundskeepers how they trim the plants. At first he mimed getting in a boat and rowing to the azaleas. Then, after pausing for effect, he grinned and said that the water was really shallow, and that they actually just donned some waders to do their work.
Aside from the azaleas, there were just a few other things in bloom: bougainvilleas, brugmansias, roses, eryngiums (sea-hollies) and some winter bloomers. Most of the interest came in the form of foliage and stems.
Here are some details from the plantings that emphasize color, form and texture, most of it best appreciated at close distances. Some of the color combinations rant toward the monochromatic. Here gray succulents contrast with the black leaves of Ophiopogon planiscapus.
This one featured yellow and green.
The foliage here tends more towards the bronze end of things.
In this composition, the silver-leaved Dichondra argentea is being slowly out-competed by the red oxalis (probably a red-leaved form of O. pupurea). Once the weather warms, the oxalis will die back, letting the dichondra regain its dominance.
Some of the color combinations were more varied.
Some plantings ran towards the chaotic. Like, don’t you think the blue aster-ey bits in this planting (lower right) are a little too over the top? I think the light gray leaves would have added a nice contrast to this combination. But the flowers… Gild the lily, why don’t you?
But, hey, it’s all taste isn’t it?
In a nod to the season, several specimens of browned late-season grasses moved dramatically in the strong midday winds. Before you go getting any ideas that this was a planting in the heightened naturalistic style of the New Perennials garden designers like Piet Oudolf, the grasses were single plants of contrasting species, placed in pots placed along the walkway.
In this last photo, in contrast to the preceding pictures of winter grasses, two plants with somewhat grass-like forms belie the fact that it’s winter. To the left is the restio, Chondoropetalum elephantinum, and the right is variegated society garlic, Tulbaghia violacea.
Some garden designers would like you to be able to know exactly what season it is by looking at the plants in the garden. Following this philosophy you should be able to set your calendar by looking at the garden. But what gives away the fact that it’s winter in this photo are the two visitors, bundled up against the cold. Looks like winter to me!
December 28 2008 07:18 pm | Categories: gardening • landscape design • places | Tags: J. Paul Getty Museum • Los Angeles • plant combinations • Robert Irwin • seasons • winter
Philip on 28 Dec 2008 at 11:47 pm #
Now, That is the view I like to see in LA!
So clear!
Sounds like fun with Jenny and the mad scientist!
My partner Ric, my twin brother Patrick and his spouse Jerry spent a wonderful holiday with my parents.
I think that we could be the poster family for marriage equality.
I like how your photos become progessively sepia, and the the last one is winter in LA.
Happy New year you two!
Philip and Ric
dana on 29 Dec 2008 at 12:31 pm #
I really like your blog, very interesting and beautiful pictures… I added you to my links, congratulations and good 2009
dana
lostlandscape on 30 Dec 2008 at 12:20 pm #
Philip (and Ric)—Sounds like you had a terrific family gathering! I’ll be looking forward to those poster-family posters all around town. Hopefully the city cooperated with some spectacular city views!
Dana—Thanks so much for the comments and the add. I enjoy your posts as well and will be adding you to my sidebar as well. Spain and California have so many things in common with the similar climate and similar plant opportunities!
[ Lost in the Landscape ] » some of my favorite photographs on 03 Jan 2009 at 1:34 pm #
[…] visit after Christmas to the Getty Center had as its main destination an exhibit of photographs by […]
[ Lost in the Landscape ] » a visit to the l.a. county museum on 12 Jan 2010 at 6:32 am #
[…] of what will be a large installation of palms by Robert Irwin. Irwin is the design force behind the Central Garden at the J. Paul Getty Museum, but here the trees will read less like a separate garden than plantings integrated into the art […]
[ Lost in the Landscape ] » garden designer, artist on 11 Apr 2010 at 6:33 am #
[…] Getty Museum on their list of places to visit. I’ve written about it a few times, including [ here ] and [ here ], and so have a lot of other bloggers. Robert Irwin is also involved in an […]