Garden show financing

**S* W* <s*@yahoo.com>**

I designed a garden for the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show in  
2004. The show, as others have noted, pays a certain fee per square  
foot. I think the fee just about covered my cost in transportation  
(three rental trucks to and from the Cow Palace). All told, my  
partners and I paid $30,000 out of pocket, and all of the labor was  
done by volunteers, the plants were donated (except for a few last  
minute additions), and the artwork and much of the hardscape  
materials were loaned to us. If I had had to pay for everything, it  
would have cost nearly $100,000. Preparing for the show completely  
dominated three months of my life and I was exhausted for a month  
afterwards. Was it worth it? I had only been designing for three  
years (a mid-life career change), the garden won the Sunset award and  
a silver from the show's judges, and was featured on television, in  
local newspapers, and in one of the Sunset special editionzines. I  
gained only a handful of real clients, but the credibility and  
confidence I gained were the most valuable. I'd never do it again,  
but it was one of the most creative and educational experiences of my  
life.

--Susan Wyche
Green Perspectives
susan@greenperspectives.com

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