Fall Visit to the Getty Center (Part 2)

This post picks up where my last post left off at the open plaza at the bottom of the Stream Garden, which is the upper section of the Getty Center's Central Garden.  To orient you, I've provided another copy of the map I included in my first post.

In this second post, we're focusing on the large circular area of the map

The plaza with the Bougainvillea "trees" overlooks the circular area of the Central Garden, called the Bowl Garden.  It consists of a series of concentric beds surrounding a circular pool with a maze constructed of clipped azalea shrubs in the middle.

The clipped azalea maze, which only appears to float in the pool, has its supporters and its critics

The azalea shrubs making up the maze have flowers in various colors.  It's more colorful at some times of the year than others.

Much as I appreciated the wide range of foliage used in the Stream Garden, I've always been drawn to the flower-filled Bowl Garden, which changes with the seasons.  Like the upper area, the semi-circular beds of the Bowl Garden are framed with trees and foliage.

The trees in this area are identified as Lagerstoemia indica 'Muskogee' in Jim Duggan's book, Plants of the Getty's Central Garden, issued by Getty Publications in 2003.  The myrtles are underplanted with Chondropetalum tectorum (aka small cape rush).

The next level of the garden is lined with more crape myrtles, underplanted with masses of Lomandra 'Platinum Beauty'

Visitors enter the Bowl Garden from the zig-zag path at the bottom of the circle.  You can enter paths on either side of the bowl but the two sides don't directly connect with one another.  Each winds around to the bed below it before taking the visitor back to the zig-zag path.

View from the upper end of the west side.  Note the Corten steel edging the beds and separating them from the path.

A long view with another peek at the azalea maze below through trees and shrubs planted in the beds below

There are arches and trellises to support vines here and there

The flowers in this bed echo the colors of the azalea maze

This shot captures some of the east side of the Bowl Garden with Chrysanthemums on one level and a large Brugmansia on the level below it

This view of a pomegranate tree, Leucadendron 'Jester' and brightly-colored mums was one of my favorites

The floral displays weren't as vibrant or impressive as those I've seen during my spring visits but then flowers take a beating during our long, dry summers.  In retrospect, even though I've pulled mine to make way for cool season flowers, I'm surprised that I didn't see any Cosmos, Dahlias, or Zinnias in the Bowl Garden as all are hallmarks of our late summer/early fall season.  There were lots of Chrysanthemums and a handful of foxgloves, not at their prime this early in the fall season.  Mum foliage is relatively uninteresting, at least to me, but the flowers are admittedly useful to provide splashes of temporary color during this in-between season.  There are some spectacular mums but those I saw at the Getty were fairly ordinary.  Angelonia, Barleria obtusa, Hibiscus, Salvia leucantha, Senna, Strelitzia, and Tagetes lemmonii bloom here at this time of year but I didn't see any of those plants.  Here are closeups of some of what I did see:

Top row: Heliotropium, Pentas lanceolata, and what I think is Plectranthus ecklonii
Middle: Cyclamen, Digitalis purpurea, and Senecio 'Angel Wings'
Bottom: assorted Chrysanthemums

Top row: Celosia, Xerochrysum bracteatum, and Iresine
Middle: noID Salvia and Digiplexis
Bottom: Tagetes with Violas, Chrysanthemums with Celosia, and Punica granatum (pomegranate)

When we left the Central Garden, we headed to the Cactus Garden, which required a climb.

This large Monstera deliciosa was tucked into an alcove we passed as we headed upward

A pretty Bougainvillea rambled down a stone wall

From the top level of the West Pavilion you can see the surrounding area, including Century City, which is visible in this shot.  From another angle (not shown) we could make out downtown Los Angeles, blurred by smog.

View of part of the Cactus Garden from overhead, including tree aloes and giant Euphorbias

A better view of the same plants close up

This is as close as visitors can get to the Cactus Garden, loaded with what appears to be Agave americana and barrel cacti

That's a wrap on my coverage of our trip to the Getty Center.  If you're interested in seeing some spring views, you can find links to my 2013 and 2016 posts on the Getty gardens here and here.  I don't have any photos from my pre-blogging days.

Best wishes for a peaceful weekend.

All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

  

Fall Visit to the Getty Center (Part 1)

My sister-in-law was in town and my husband and I thought she might enjoy a trip to the Getty Center as she hadn't been there in well over a decade.  As a matter of fact, I haven't been there in over seven years, which is remarkable as it isn't all that far away. 

This colorful display greeted us as soon as we walked into the visitor center after the tram ride up from the parking area

The Center contains the Getty Museum, a wide variety of art exhibits changed out regularly, and wonderful gardens.  Admission is free but parking isn't; however, that cost is nominal.  I've visited several times since its Central Garden opened in 1997 but I think this is the first time I've been there this late in the year.  We checked out exhibits on photographer Arthur Tress and printmaker, painter and poet William Blake but my focus was of course the Central Garden.  I'll cover the upper level of that garden in this post and will follow up with an overview of the lower level of the Central Garden, as well as the Cactus Garden, on Friday.

This is an overhead view of the upper section of the Central Garden from the main plaza level.  Navigating the multiple levels of Getty Center is an challenge in itself as you can see in this map.

The Central Garden is 134,000 square feet in size and was designed by an artist, Robert Irwin.

Irwin memorialized the garden with the statement shown here embedded in concrete

As Irwin said, the garden is every-changing.  New plants are constantly introduced while others are traded out; however, the basic structure of the garden with its switchback and winding paths remains the same.  The garden was less flowerful at this time of year, yet still packed with vibrant color.  

The main sections of the garden are framed by foliage plants.  On the upper level these include deergrass (Muhlenbergia rigens), silver carpet groundcover (Dymondia margaretae), what I think is lilyturf (Liriope), and London planetrees (Plantanus x acerifolia).

A ravine filled with rocks to slow the movement of water runs through the center of what is officially called the Stream Garden

A pedestrian pathway zig-zags back and forth to opposite sides of the stream as you pass along its length to the bottom.  The passage is interrupted by bridges here and there.

By slowing their progress, the path invites visitors to take a closer look at the plant combinations on either side

What I think is a colorful Croton accompanied by a groundcover I recognize but can't name offhand

I can't identify the plant with the red foliage at the center or this photo but it could be some kind of bromeliad like the plants in front of it.  In addition to succulents, there looks to be a Persicaria in the mix.

This is a vignette I wish I'd studied more closely while onsite.  My best guesses are that the reddish shrub is a Coprosma repens; the fern-like green leaves are Geranium maderense; the succulent is one of the red-toned Aeonium arboreum; and the groundover is Muehlenbeckia axillaris.

Russelia equisetiformis, Cordyline, and Aeoniums make an understated but attractive combination.  Aeonium nobile (shown in closeup on the right) was part of the mix.

I noticed a lot of Mangaves like the one in the middle foreground here

I loved this vignette too.  Among other things, it features a blooming Russelia equisetiformis, 3 Mangaves (maybe 'Mission to Mars') and what might be Acalypha wilkesiana (red foliage in the background, which may also include coleus).

More Mangaves along with what I assume are specimens of the variegated Beschorneria yuccoides

There were lots of densely clustered groups of mixed succulents like those shown in this photo and the 2 below it

 

At the bottom of the ravine are the Bougainvillea "umbrellas" (or trees) the garden is well known for.

The vines are encased within "trunks" made of rebar with their bracts allowed to tumble from the top

As you may have guessed, I was a little frustrated that I couldn't definitively identify many of the plants.  There are no labels but then adding those would muddy the effect - this is less a botanic garden and more a work of art created using plants.  On one of my earlier visits to the Getty, I purchased a book that provided individual plant identifications from the Center's gift shop.  Its publication date is 2003 and, as the plants are always changing, it's out-of-date.  However, a map included in the book provides a good sense of the overall flow of the Central Garden as shown below.

 

Source: Plants in the Getty's Central Garden by Jim Duggan with garden photographs by Becky Cohen, Getty Publications, 2003

This post covered my visit to the upper, Stream Garden garden, the section shown in the map crisscrossed by the zig-zag pathway.  That garden is heavily dependent on foliage plants of various kinds.  I'll cover the the sunnier Bowl Garden, shown within the large circle in the lower section of the map, on Friday.

All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party 

 

Getty Center Visit

Late last month, my husband and I took off on a weekday visit to the Getty Center in West Los Angeles.  We hadn't been there in 3 years, our last visit unexpectedly marking our last outing with his mother.  My mother-in-law was in great shape and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves during our April 2013 visit but her unexpected passing some five weeks later put a bittersweet aura over our most recent visit.  Still, I was interested in seeing what was happening in the Getty's Central Garden and we took time to stroll through two of the museum's current exhibits too.

The Getty Center is only 35 freeway miles from our home but Los Angeles deserves its #1 ranking as the city with the worst traffic in the US so it took us over an hour to get there, even traveling after the peak rush hour was over.  We arrived in late morning and, as the day was sunny and bright, my photos, with a few exceptions, are sun-drenched so I offer my apologies in advance.  (Warning: this is a photo-heavy post.)

View of the entrance to the Central Garden from the level above

Visitors enter the Central Garden through the stream garden, where a winding path directs their attention to the surrounding plants.

This may be my favorite photo from our visit so I'm offering it as my Wednesday Vignette this week.  I loved how the sun shone through the Phormium, highlighted the Nandina and added a sparkle to the Cordyline.  For more Wednesday Vignettes, visit Anna at Flutter & Hum.

Another nice grouping, this one featuring Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt', Carex testacea, Cordyline 'Renegade', and Heuchera (perhaps 'Purple Petticoats') 

The lower area of the stream was heavily planted with Russelia equisetiformis (Euphorbia tirucalli 'Sticks on Fire' is shown in the foreground on the right)

I feel at home with the plants in the Getty's garden, many of which can be found in my own garden, albeit not in the same numbers or sizes!

Other plants in the stream garden included, clockwise from the upper left: Adenanthos drummondii, Astelia nivicola, Athanasia acerosa, and Pieris sp.

The stream garden opens up to a large, plaza-like area, highlighting two of the most well-known features of the Central Garden.

The rebar-supported Bougainvillea "trees"

and the Azalea Pool, which gave refuge to one lone duck on the morning of our visit

My favorite area is the one called the bowl garden.  It's not as densely planted in early spring as I recall it being on visits later in the year but there's still a lot to see.  We walked around the garden counter-clockwise.  Here are the photos from the 11 o'clock to the 5 o'clock position.

The other side of the bowl was harder to photograph because of the sun's position and visitor traffic but I got a couple of shots.

I also took some long-range shots from the bowl's 12 o'clock position.

The west side

The east side

Amazingly, I was able to identify many of the plants I saw in the bowl area, consulting Jim Duggan's book entitled Plants in the Getty's Central Garden in only a couple of cases for verification.

Alliums weren't listed as part of the original garden in Duggan's guide but my guess is that these are A. 'Globemaster', A. 'White Giant', and A. schubertii

Top row, left to right: Acacia 'Cousin Itt' (also not part of the original planting scheme), Asteriscus sericeus, and Chondropetalum tectorum
Middle row: Coprosma repens (probably 'Pacific Sunset'); Echium 'Star of Madeira' with Astelia and Pelargonium 'Oldbury Duet'; and Geranium maderense
Bottom row: Leucadendron 'Ebony', Ursinia anethiodes, and Watsonia intermedia

With the exception of the Azalea Pool, the Getty has made an effort to manage its water use in response to California's drought.  Water features outside the Central Garden have been turned off.

By and large, plant selections, including most of those shown above, were also made with attention to drought tolerance.   The cactus garden is another case in point.

Views of the cactus garden, left to right: from the upper level, midway along the stairs, and the lower level (not open to visitors)

I'd hope to get photos of the views of the area surrounding the Getty on our trips up and down the tram between the main grounds and the parking structure but we got stuck standing up in both directions.  The only distance views I got were these from the top level of the property.

Left: east-facing view of UCLA, Century City and, in the far distance on the left, downtown LA; right: west-facing view of the ocean

The Getty's garden isn't the Huntington but it's worth a visit if you find yourself in West LA.  I'll end this post with a photo of the statue that greets visitors upon arrival.

All material © 2012-2016 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party