Blurred Vision

“When you have a chance can you give me a call about the window boxes?”

Not necessarily the kind of message you want to hear when returning to the office after a particularly long day.  Immediately the ominous tone got my stomach churning. What I thought was a great day was suddenly turning into a not-so-great day.

The morning had started very early. Said client had window boxes on a very busy street and we needed to get in and out before there was lots of traffic and parking spaces were at a premium. 

I always love to use unexpected and unusual plant material in my designs. And with this client I was particularly excited about the potential of a new color palette.

 

I was using purples, peaches and oranges and showcasing a very cool geranium. Because the location baked in the sun I was using lots of silvers, which are typically very drought tolerant.

 

As my assistant and I were planting, many passersby remarked on how pretty the window boxes looked.

I agreed and was secretly thrilled with how they turned out. It’s one thing to plan in your head but quite another to see things actually planted. In my opinion, these planters, which were the first I had done for this client, were a home run.

And then came the phone call.
Even my daughter said, “That doesn’t sound very good Mom.”

Much as I wanted to postpone bad news I called right away.  Apparently the client, who “wasn’t sure she was averse to orange”, found out she was.

Strike one.

 

In our initial conversation she mentioned she hated coleus so I had not used it but the Mrs. Pollack geranium was too similar with its variegated leaf.

Strike two. 

 

The portulaca – with its orange flowers was a hot color – which she had told me she didn’t like. I had thought by adding lots of white alyssum I might be able to tone things down.

Strike three.

In the end, I’d allowed my vision for the planters to eclipse the client’s.

Why am I telling you this story? After all, shouldn’t we only trumpet the successes and ignore the failures? 
Not necessarily.
If we learn from our mistakes they can be as valuable as our successes.

In the future I will listen more carefully and before I plant something questionable, I will check with the client.

When it comes down to it I still think the window boxes are gorgeous, but if they are not gorgeous to the ones paying for them it doesn’t matter.

Thankfully, the client was gracious and allowed the planting to remain. If she decides to work with The Captured Garden in the fall, we will be making adjustments to more accurately reflect her vision.

I have always tried to encourage my children to admit when they are wrong or have made a mistake.
And since kids learn best by example, I’m really hoping they read this.

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