My Clients garden this summer. For the last time.

Nice blog, sorry you've lost your client.. But what is the 'sing in thing'?????

They are lovely photo`s Angie, you did him proud.
I tried Coleus from seed for the first time this year but they didn`t get very big at all, not sure whether it might have been our weird summer.
I nip off and play solitaire whilst I wait when doing my blogs Angie..
think its s`posed to say sign Grannyb, lol...

Anjie what a riot of colour there, I adore coleus for their boldness! Fab.

Grannyb - I think she means 'sign in thing' (logging on)

Your Coleus look fantastic. The warm climate helps I'm sure, but it is lovely to grow them yourself. What a pity you can't pay them a visit from time to time.

Coleuses are always colourful aren't they. Pitty you won't be able to look after them any more.I usually grow them but haven't got any this year.

I'm fed up with having to sign in aswell. And it never remembers my password. Pages very slow to change aswell. That's why I never look at the photos now. It takes for ever just to see a few :o((

Beautiful garden Angie, we didn't have coleus this year.

Hello everybody thank you for your comments.

Yes GrannyB it's the log in thing! It bugs me. It use to remember me but not since the adds were added to this site.
Plus like you Hywel looking at pics is almost painful now. Slow and having to keep moving the pic to see it and not the add gets to me. Such a pity as everything was peeeeeeerfect when I first found this site.

Lincsiass, thanks, As far as I can tell Coleus like heat and the right balance of water but not too much. Plus a spray of bug repellent as the bugs can eat them to death. I'm sure with in a month to 2 months these will be gone for good.

Hi Grandmage, thanks, I think they are a great splash of color too. Love when they grow like this.

Sheilar yes sign in it is. I laugh so hard at your comment on Grannyb blog. About your husband saying your room is so cold the light comes on when you open the door. One just doesn't find humor like that in this neck of the jungle.

Thanks Linda. Well, when he sees his garden slowly failing he might have second thoughts, but he just doesn't get that gardens need times, good soil, correct watering and time spent and a lot of know how. I was tired of working over time without pay to tend the plants properly because he wouldn't pay any more than 2hrs. 30 mins a week. If I charged over he'd be pissed. It's not like he doesn't have it though. He kept buying more and more pots and then wouldn't allow me to buy plants & potting soil to go in them!!!! Go figure! I was asking for months for potting soil and amend. I managed to start some little plants to go in the latest 4 new pots. Then he still expected me to tend them all in the same 2.30 hrs. How is that logical? I think it's abusive!
People have been strange and very fickle since I came back from Ireland at the end of July and I've lost my patience for them.

Clients totally underestimate watering and it seems to be a hard thing to teach them how to do it properly. Plus when the client isn't a gardener they seem to think the plants should be planted and thats it. Then they wonder why they die.

Thanks Lulu.

I see I only had one email message saying I had a comment. So even that part of GOU isn't working properly. Is anyone else having that problem?

Happy gardening.

have the e.mail alerts but not the problem of signing in.

You've grown some lovely plants there Angie.
I hope more of your clients start to appreciate you, and the work and time needed to keep gardens and plants looking at their best.

I cheat on this site by NOT signing out - it saves loads of time. That way, you don't have to sign back in!

watering sytems work very well for unplant friendly clients!!

awesome grden and colours..excellent..great blog

Thank you all.

Grannieb
I didn't get any email alert as to these latest comments but great news I didn't have to sign in yet again!

Sheilar.
I never sign out either so I duno what ails it.

That was my last gardening client gone bye bye. I lost all my other gardening gigs either by people moving and the recession. I had 7 gardens to tend but one by one they lots their jobs so I lots mine. Plus with the gardening dispute going on with my land lord and my neighbors trying to take over all my hard work here where I live I don't have any garden to play in now. It's most frustrating, I'd sooooo love my own garden. I have my balcony but it's mostly shade, faces north and only get a bit of sun late afternoon so it's a bit frustrating as we need sunny spot to grow the good stuff.
However, I have a possible new major garden transformation I'm waiting to hear back of. So fingers crossed.

Lulu.
Reg. water sys. even they are not full proof as I find when the sys. is first installed by someone else they NEVER put in enough heads. As the plants grow they block out the sprinkler water to some plants so once a week or so the hose needs to come out.

With my last client he had a sprinkler sys. that just needed an overhaul to make it work but I couldn't talk him into that either. He said he'd add a new one later but I said you do that first. I told him I could check the old one out but no he didn't want that. So whata ya to do? It's frustrating trying to get through to people the basics of a good garden! They want instant gardens here and to me that's not real gardening. You know what I mean? They buy the tree that is fully grown and put it in the garden. The grass sod is bought all grown and rolled into place. Plants are bought in big 5 gall containers in bloom and plonked in. Voila a week or so later instant garden. Then they expect it to stay that way.

Thanks Skipscanda1 and Terratoonie glad you liked the colors and the garden.
Cheers.

I think a shot gun works better!!! Honestly, just can't get sensible clients nowadays!! We used to set our own up!

Yeah Lulu33, It is fun tending gardens but it's so frustrating when they don't give me the tools to make a great job of it. They just don't get it. Often it not from the lack of $$$.
I think I've had enough of the crap I have to deal with here and I'm seriously considering returning to Ireland to live. It's calling me back home.

You would have to change your avatar name to Angiein Ireland!!

He he Lulu. Well not If I work in a garden. Any garden, my friends my sisters or who knows maybe my own. Now that would be a dream. It's seeming like all roads lead home. Not much is going right since I came back at the end of July.

Cheap to buy now in Ireland!!!

Sorry things are not going well for you Angie...sounds very disappointing and frustrating. Perhaps it is because you are meant to move on now....perhaps. Anyway, just came on to say what a lovely collection of Coleus...and lovely warm garden shots! They look so much better in warm climes don't they...'at home'. I've often thought that being a pro. gardener must be a hard one.....too many relationships with people who want something for nothing.....:)) Stay positive x

If your in business you have to give the client what the client wants within his desired timeframe in the parameters of his budget. That's from the client's point of view. Not the one providing the services. You know the time, effort,tools, creativity and cost involved. What makes it worse, is that what you do is deep within your heart and you wish your clients would just leave you alone so you could work your art the way that you know is right. You go to a client with a portfolio, they see the pictures and they too want the same thing but from your point of view instantly. You are an artist of the garden and yet what do they do? Instead of supplying you with the finest linen canvas, highest quality brushes and the best paint, they throw crayons and sketch paper at you and expect the same results that you pictured. The client wants to stand in his garden amongst others all puffed up and pretend that all that one sees was from his effort
Talent and creativity. How many of those in other art forms have seen that attitude? Instant gratification rules! The dead space of time required of every creative result in order to be formed and born is not allowed. Clients want the result prematurely fully formed and yet you know all to painfully that it will crumble to disarray quickly because there was no foundation of experience, time, and patience for it to stand on. As an garden artist you wish form your subject the way you see it , from your point of view and not the clients point of view. I chose not to paint professionally because I knew that I would be miserable creating what other people wanted to see, to be what you call a commercial success. My nightmare would be to paint a portrait of a client's wife and have him say "Gee Honey, I Looks Just Like You!" Hearing that could make me violent. You are on what seems to be good terms with a client and then you find out that love is wonderful and friendship is great but money makes strangers of us all.
A friend of mine who has since passed on was able to make a living by showing the world how he viewed things or so I thought untilnI realized that his tremendous success during his lifetime came from hitting that magic balance between creating his own visions and mingling with it what he thought others would like to see. Lookig at his art you would say to youreself " Yes, I've seen something like that in my own life before." His name was George Segal my art teacher, my mentor. His works are in the worlds greatest museums and mine are on the walls of my home and I am happy. Just as you would be very happy just to tend to a garden of your own at this point in time.
For a while I felt miserable that I could not follow my natural inclinations and talents and make a living persueing them. That turned around when one day I listened to an interview with the great American actor, Edward G. Robinson. He loved great art, and his life's wish was to purchase a, for example, Van Gough painting to view in his home. He admitted that he did not like acting and did not care for it at all but he found that it was a means to accomplishing his desire to own great works of art and it was, Van Gough hung on his wall. Upon hearing that I felt better. I realized that it was all right to persue a different endeavor or occupation , even one that I didn't care for, in order to follow those things that made me happy and satisfied in my free time. In my own way I have kept a careful balance between giving time to the necessities of life and time to those things that gave me the greatest pleasure, satisfaction and creative outlets. From reading your statements it sounds that you are about ready to do that and are coming to the conclusion that this is presently what is best for you. I envy you, being able to make a living from the thing that you like to do is a rare blessing you seem to be ready to make the leap to something different should circumstances dictate.

Have Faith In Yourself

Eclectic

I

Whoa! Well put Eclectic! Congratulations on working out that truth for yourself, and thus finding contentment!

Lulu33. Cheap, but not cheap enough for my bank balance, LOL! Plus so hard to get a lone these days, plus it takes time to get established after moving. I'll keep buying the odd lotto in hopes of a big win! :-)

Karen yes quite frustrating at times. Although out of all the garden clients I've had I've never had one before that so often complained/dig about my hr. fee. They hire me or not, they can afford me or not, or negotiate. This same man just bought himself a new deluxe Range Rover & is saving for a 30,000 5 week trip to Africa. So it's not a shortage of $$$ it's just rudeness and as I so often find something for noting. So many of the plants above came from bits I brought from home, or cutting I get on my walks, other gardens and I remembered some of the Coleus were from last year from broken bits I found on the floor of the garden center when buying plants. I always toss them into the trolly. I had started a little nursery area at my clients house and it was a great little area for starting plants. Did I ever get much appreciation for that? Not at all. He use to try to rile me with his so- called-humor, then when he couldn't he'd say, I'm only trying to wind you up but there is no doing that is there? Are you timid? I said in reply once, I'm not one to wind up! Believe me on that! I just thought he was rude at times when he was in that kind of mood. Other times he was ok but I always knew not to rock his boat by answering him back, until I couldn't anymore. It's abusive of a client to treat someone that he pays like that, because they know that the person is being paid so they may take more than they will give back. A control thing I'm sure. I can understand why he is a divorced man and doesn't have a woman in his life.

One only has to read what Electric wrote to under stand an artist.
WOW! I so appreciate you taking the time to write that. I related to all of it. Thank you so much.
You speak for all of us, any kind of artist. I also paint, but don't sell, well I sold two, but use to paint on clothing and I did sell them, but that was fun. Really Electric you should publish that reply else where too, as it really says it all. Clients NEED to understand an artist's mind. Some do, but stingy selfish people don't. I will copy that and save it to remember always.

My life has reverted primarily back to my other line of work, I do many things one being a nanny for 20 years and even when the garden gig started about 12 years ago I still did some work with the kids. I love the kids and feel I was meant to be around them. So at the moment I work every evening, and Sat. & Sun. with 3 different families. So I only have my balcony to muck about in but maybe I can find some new gardening clients for next Spring.

I am working on the return to Ireland thing but there is so much to consider. If I go there won't be much chance of coming back for anything other than a trip. So it would be a big move and I hate the cold of winter, it's a big problem for my achy breaky body.

So I must get ready now to go tend 2 adorable, smily, happy easy going little boy who's parents appreciate me so much. In fact the 3 families appreciate me so much and don't complain at all about my hourly fee. :-)

As my brother said to me once you have to have plan A and the plan B in case plan A doesn't work out. Then plan C, D, E ......

So I'm with you on your thinking Electric. I am lucky that I get paid for what I love doing. I realize that many people don't, I just go insane if I have to work at a job I'm not happy in. I think with faith in one's self and the ability to listen to your own thoughts and those that come from heaven know where one can find their bliss so to speak. It wont always be a bed of Roses all the time, one must take the good, the bad and the indifferent and rides the waves of life the best we can. Even if life is a bed of Roses, those Roses have nasty thorns, so be careful.
I can only tell you that kind, understanding people that have an ability to empathize and understand and lend a helping hand/write, or a listening ear make the ride a whole lot easier.
So a big thank you to all of my kind and thoughtful GOY gardening friends.
Many blessing in return.

You are very welcome Angie...I do agree so much about plan b,c and d ...that's life...and you really do need to consider the wet dark rainy cold that we have to endure in the UK and Ireland....that sunshine is a blessing and perhaps even your best medicine if you suffer with arthritis or similar. :)) I know I would be much happier and healthier in a sunny climate....I think a lot of us would be! In January we had a week in Tenerife and when I stepped out of the airport in to the car park and 'smelled' the sunshine and felt the warmth, I actually cried tears of joy...that's how much it matters to me. Off back again soon for another 'dose' of warmth! Can't wait! :)

Oh Karen we are two of a kind then when it come to the warmth of the sun. I remember moments like that of stepping off a plane in Greece and feeling the heat hit me.
I can certainly relate. Though your lucky you can escape even a week or two of the cold winter in England. We are so lucky here as we can get a week of rain then the next week we might have a few days of heat so it helps to break up the winter. I know too well how long wet, grey and dreary the winters can be across the pond and really it's the main reason I have to make my plans very carefully. I think when it boils down to it the only reason I'm still here is the sun and heat.
I don't have arthritis, at least it doesn't show up in blood test but Drs. are always trying to say I have it until they see my blood test. What do they know? I've lost all confidence in them. I'm my own best Dr. I just think I'm a magnet for the cold & damp, even as a child growing up in Ireland before the day of central heating my favorite place to sit was on 2 cushions on the hearth of the fireplace. I know way ahead of every else when the weather is about to change for the bette or worse, I'm like a weather gauge. I thrive when it's about 80F which happens the temp. today. Which is fab. for the middle of Oct.
I think that the colder winter bring forth many more beautiful flowers than the heat does here. I've realized that from seeing all the lovely pics of the English garden on this site. t s nice to be able to garden all year round here but there are pros & cons.

So hope you enjoy your escape to the heat again, hope all goes well for you.
Cheers.

Cheers Angie! :))

i wish you lived closer to me.... i have been wanting to find another true gardener for years who could help me keep mine up and make it truly amazing.

Oh how I'd loved that BB.
Life has a strange sense of humor and I'll never understand it. I'm all the way over here and your all the way over there and somehow we'd like to live around the corner from each other so we could share gardening ideas and help those kids. Ah well, that's life isn't it?

Hello all.
Just an update, it too months but he realized I was needed in the garden and asked me to go back. I had a good laughed to myself about it and went back. I had missed the garden. I'll post some pics when I get it looking good again. All is much better so far! Hope it stays that way. I'm still giggling.