Keeping the canvas fresh

WHAT happens when the palette for your canvas has a natural expiration date? Ornamental plants do run their course, says Jim Duggan, who collaborated with artist Robert Irwin on the Getty Center’s Central Garden and remains its curatorial advisor.

A ring of succulent kalanchoe in one part of the design called the Bowl Garden was replanted in late 2007, he says. Great sweeps of deer grass marching down part of the design known as the Stream Garden were replaced this year. Bougainvillea in the rebar bowers are originals. Cape rush in the highest ring of the Bowl Garden will be dug up in a year or two, and a new variety – ‘El Campo,’ which is “smaller and better looking,” Duggan says – will take its place. Azaleas are growing in containers on the property – backup for that still-controversial water-bound maze.

Though the Getty Trust cut staff earlier this year, the Getty Center’s commitment to the garden remains unchanged, says David Bomford, associate director for collections at the J. Paul Getty Museum. “We have seven full-time people who devote themselves to its maintenance, and we are committed to its seasonal changes,” says Bomford, who adds: “Bob Irwin’s conception should be honored for as long as it can.”

Now that Irwin has ended his involvement, design oversight falls to Duggan. “The garden,” Irwin says, “is mostly in Jim’s hands now.”

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Paula Panich