Tuesday 31 January 2012

Blooming 'eck

Management is hard

Getting the balance between being in control and letting your charges express themselves is a trick that even the best managers find stressful

Take too much control and things can start to go wrong. Slowly at first but eventually overtime to an unnatural position where pent up feelings can be unleashed. Things happening without explanation, and before you know it the world isn't behaving as you want it to.

On the flip side, delegate everything and who know what will happen. Chaos as everyday boundaries vanish and things go off in all sorts of directions like fireworks accidentally going off at once.

The results can be spectacular... (click me)

So let me ask you, what type of gardener are you? The one that has to have everything in a neat row, marked out according to plan. Perfectly trimmed borders? Or do you live and let live, trust the garden to decide what's best?

I reckon I have a foot in both camps. In my mind a wonderfully ordered world, but in reality? Well, you've seen the pictures. Sometimes though, you think 'yes, I can trust this plant to get on with itself. It's grown up enough to know what to do. A bit of help every now and again but it'll never let me down.

In my case this plant is my rose. A present from my mum 2 years ago, it has given me two years of cracking creamy white roses.



Prolific in bloom, it is a rare flower in an otherwise edible garden. The mild winter caused a bit of a stir with some early blooms just after Christmas but in a moment of ' I'm sure I didn't ask you to do that, but blooming 'eck, well done you...

...it flowered pink! Sometimes the things you look after can surprise you.



Now, is this because I managed it well and let it do its own thing?

Or is it just a freak?

PS - forgive all this management talk, I've been interviewing all week, I need to get out a lot more!

7 comments:

Grainy said...

I love surprises! This is a particularly pretty one. Thank you for sharing.

Kate Ginty said...

Great post as always.

It could be a rogue rose, in which case sell the propagation rights and make your fortune. Another explanation could be somebody replaced the rose when you weren't looking, due to accidently trampling or petrol accident. Explain this theory to friends and family and check to see if they look shifty.

I like clean straight lines in my garden, but it is making me tired. Nowadays I'm working more with nature (read that as lack of time and neglect).

Janet said...

I would be slightly put out if it turned pink on me...

Catherine said...

A very pretty photo Hapless, maybe you have no more claim to that title? I think you get the balance just right and also have a bit of a life:~)

Roo said...

Why can't you like comments, as you would on facebook? I'd then be able to 'like' Kate's, especially the looking out for shifty reactions bit :0)

Hapless gardener said...

Wow, thanks for all the comments everyone. Kate, I would see ££ signs in front of my eyes, but I am clueless on propagating!

Roo, I agree but there is a like button for the post, hint hint hint. My family were here at Christmas though...time to interrogate for shiftyness I reckon!

Grainy and Foxglove I'm glad you like the photos. Trust me though, that title still stands, I'm just protecting you all from the carnage elsewhere in the garden.

Janet, I was a bit surprised, perhaps it's trying to tell me something. An act of garden defiance maybe!

linniew said...

Someone might have painted it. Or the root stock has emerged. Or you have been selected from all other earthlings to receive an alien award from a planet where pink things are the currency of exchange. So you could go to that planet and trade the rose for something like say North America. Or just stay here and enjoy your lovely rose... Really it's nice.

The Hapless Kitchen Gardener

My photo
Bristol
I only feel hapless because some people make it look easy to grow 10 ft marrows or a banquet of greens whereas my courgettes got nabbed by killer slugs and I only got one raspberry. So tips and stories from people less hapless than I are more than welcome. As a disclaimer though, none of my comments should be taken as expert advice on which you can rely! © Unless stated otherwise, and with the exception of guest content where that guest retains copyright, all photos and posts are the copyright of Tom Carpen and may not be used without permission.