Monday, May 21, 2018

Who did it first?

Strolling down E. 4th St, on our first evening Austin, Andrew and I spotted these excellent dish planters. Before I could say anything he said "they stole your idea!" Ha, he's great that way, assuming the best from me, like I could possible be the one to have come up with such a fabulous design.
No I simply put my spin on it, with the materials I could find (photos here, if you're unfamiliar with mine). I do wonder though, who did it first? I tend to think it may have been the Big Red Sun (see photos of their signature steel dishes here), a design company / retail shop originally based in Austin, but now in Venice, CA. And since these are in downtown Austin I wonder if they are from the Big Red Sun?

Whatever the case I love them, and applaud their cramscaping ways.

People often look at my dish planters and worry about the shallow area for roots, ha! Mine have nothing on these, with those tall Yucca rostrata.

The Agave 'Sharkskin' look to have been a little abused.

But wow, I would really like to have these in my garden!
When I sat down to write this post I wanted to check my memory that we really were walking down E. 4th St, so I pulled up Google Maps. Then I realized Google street view might show a better photo of the installation my images, since since mine were all severe close-ups. Then things really got fun when I traveled back in time to see how it all began. Here's a screen-shot from June 2009, I see sweet potato vine, pencil conifers and pink flowers...

March 2011, one of the conifers has dissappeared...

And the planters finally show up in February of 2014, but with Agaves and cement balls!

June 2014

July 2014 — and note — it looks like the same plants have been in the dish planters all along.
April 2015
And January 2017, the most up to date image on Google street view. The Agaves seem to be shrinking, maybe that's why they were replaced with purple Dyckia and barrel cactus?
Weather Diary, May 20: Hi 72, Low 54/ Precip 0

All material © 2009-2018 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

18 comments:

  1. Great minds think alike, right? Very cool to see the evolution of this space.

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  2. I'll have you know that when Tamara and I walked down this street during the fling, we immediately shouted out (much to the dismay of innocent passerby's) that this place clearly stole the idea from our beloved Danger Garden!! We stood, pointed and remarked how much nicer your designs are.

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    1. Ah, you guys are the best!!! Thank you!

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  3. Fun to watch the changes as it is always nice to know we are not the only ones whose plants die or we just want a change.

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    1. Change is inevitable, or something like that...

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  4. Maybe you didn't invent the dish planters but, in my book, you own them! When I saw dish planters in Austin I immediately thought of yours. Your photos of the display's evolution was interesting - I never think of checking Google maps for historical data but perhaps I should.

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    1. I never have before, I don't know what possessed me to think of it, but I'm glad I did (street view).

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  5. I have done up what I have thought was an original idea in the garden then some time later see that it was in a magazine. Then I wonder did I make that up or did I see this someplace and forgot about it??? It is a strange feeling.

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    1. Strange indeed. There is so much out there that's "inspired by..."

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  6. I'm actually wondering when the trend will revisit its Googie origins (like at Dodger's Stadium) in concrete and hypertufa. I like the look of the galvanized, but it requires a fair bit of maintenance in the wrong conditions.

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    1. The metal of these planters actually appears to be holding up pretty well, it looks substantial, unlike some of the thin galvanized I've purchased in the past that has pitted right away.

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    2. Ah, good to know. I can't afford the good stuff, myself, so I have to switch similar planters, in full sun, out every five years or so. I do think extremely hearty (v hardy) stuff, like terrestrial bromeliads or agaves, help extend the life because there's so little maintenance irrigation needed, compared to sedum or summat. I really enjoy the transitions you've documented here. The current is my favorite incarnation thus far.

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  7. To my recollection, Big Red Sun originated this look (they'd been around for a while when I first posted about them in 2007: http://www.penick.net/digging/?p=191), but they typically used rusty steel. However, Danger Garden definitely put the galvanized silver spin on things! At any rate, it's a fabulous look. I am guessing the agaves kept getting replaced because they'd grow to the point of stabbing out the eyes of passersby. Dyckia and golden barrels are much more contained.

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    1. Thank you for that link, I was curious to see if I'd commented on it, but no. Surely I read other posts you did on the BRS though, as I absolutely had to visit their California store back in 2009 and how else would I have known about it?

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  8. Killer Google time-lapse! Your analysis of how / why plants were changed out sounds good to me. Though I'm still wrapping my head around such limited root zones and a shortened lifespan...

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    1. I can't help but see some teenager grab the Yucca and yank it out. Maybe kids are better behaved in Texas?

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  9. The time history view is a cool look at how that developed! I'll have to revisit your original post, because it'd be fun to have my own version of this.

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