The Patient Gardeners
Growing clematis is a waiting game, say the owners of Hummingbird Farm in Turner.
By Rebecca Martin Evarts, Photography by Peggy McKenna
In a shady spot behind a funky plastic greenhouse, Cindy Tibbetts of Hummingbird Farm is delivering a baby. "I'm a little nervous," she confesses as she contemplates cutting the umbilical cord.The mother and baby in question are clematis, specifically C. 'Silver Moon', the Nicole Kidman of the clematis world. Hardy and blessed with a long flowering season, 'Silver Moon' loves shade, where its large, shimmering mother-of-pearl lavender blossoms are at their pale, elegant best.
A year ago, Tibbetts started the gestation by inducing a shoot from the mother plant to root while still attached.
