Robert Irwin, the artist who designed the Central Garden at the Getty Center, has walked the landscape monthly ever since it opened a decade ago. He quietly retired this year, ending his role as shepherd of what he has long called sculpture in the form of a garden. Irwin is shown beneath bougainvillea shooting from rebar bowers, one of several visually playful elements of his creation. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
Irwins design is composed of three parts: the plaza, the Bowl Garden and the Stream Garden, shown here with its London plane trees leafing out in April. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
The colors and textures of the Central Garden are captured in springtime. Here, Canary Island daisy in its peak bloom. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
A lone blue bloom rises among a sea of yellow Bronze Beauty irises. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
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Allium Mt. Everest White sends up clouds of flowers. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
Geranium maderense, which can bloom spring to midsummer, brightens the Central Garden. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
Allium Globemaster sprouts bulbs worthy of Dr. Seuss treatment. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
Though Irwin was criticized for his plant selection in the water-bound azalea maze, he still defends his choice. I was looking for a plant that had certain properties, and the azalea kept coming up as a possibility, the artist said, later adding: There is a famous azalea grower in Altadena called the Nuccio Brothers. For four generations, thats all theyve done is grow azaleas. They told me which azaleas are going to do [what], which peat moss to get, how they should be grown. I did my homework. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
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Theres no palette as rich as a garden, Robert Irwin says. And the intensity of it I make this statement all the time: You cant plan nature; you court her. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
