Since 1992
Print and digital marketing
By Bill Van Tassel
Staff Writer
TURNER — Cindy Tibbetts at Hummingbird Farm in North Turner works year-round to keep her plant nursery operating in good condition. When a customer stops in to purchase some clematis or herbs they like to see healthy leaves and maybe a strong, colorful blossom or two on a plant. Or when a mail order customer receives some cuttings or “liners,” they are expecting them to appear healthy and ready to continue maturing into beautiful, flowering examples of nature’s wonderful variety of plant life.
There’s a lot that goes into getting ready for spring by the operators of Maine’s many small, greenhouse businesses. There’s a marketing aspect with its searches for reputable, national suppliers who develop the plants and hybrids from seed to sprout (germination) to the stage where they are safe for shipping. Another aspect is choosing the right varieties that have customer appeal and will adapt to the climate of the region. (Maine fits in USDA Growing Zones 4 and 5).
Tibbetts does her ordering in the fall and spends a lot of time – when she’s not “playing in the dirt” – learning online how to improve her marketing and horticultural skills.
Once the fully-sprouted plants arrive at nurseries like Hummingbird Farm, they will need to be transplanted at the appropriate time into larger containers. This involves years of experimentation to find the best soils, fertilizers, antifungal agents, etc., to replant the seedlings.
With about 20 years’ experience behind them, Humming Bird Farm had decided to concentrate on the popular clematis plant, a species that has dozens of colorful varieties with some hardiness to them.
There does seem to be a sense of humor among clematis growers who like to repeat, “Let’s see what variety I can kill off this year!” Within the joke hides the element that it does take a lot of time, skill, patience, and a little luck, to get that green thumb that alludes many of us.
I caught up with Tibbetts during a time when she was beginning to transplant some of the 80 clematis varieties she sells. She was experimenting with a new antifungal agent she purchased in late February. I watched as she dipped the set into a tub of water that had been treated with the suggested amount of the agent. She then carefully transferred the plants, with the soil clumps intact, into the larger pot.
One of her two greenhouses was packed with the perennial clematis plants, some old that had made it through winter in the heated building and some new from the distributor.
Hummingbird Farm’s management had decided about 10 years ago, to concentrate on clematis plants although they still carry some herbs. They had previously carried tomatoes, peppers, and a few other items.
The family had always had vegetable gardens to tend. Tibbetts and her husband, Brian, now deceased, spent much of their adult life in agriculture, working for some time at Brigeen Farm in Turner.
Their hillside property has two gardens, two greenhouses and a shop for sales and information on successful growing ofcClematis and gardening in general.
“I always make sure a new customer [whether local or mail order] leaves with information about their plants,” said Tibbetts. It’s a way of cutting down on the phone calls and keeping the home gardeners successful.
She likes to hold workshops to help gardeners and will be having a workshop on pruning in April. Hummingbird Farm also sets up a booth during the Home, Garden and Flower Show at the Fryeburg Fairgrounds and takes part in craft fairs.
So, while most of us are just waiting for the snow to go away, workers at nurseries like Hummingbird Farm, are busy as bees making sure they have some well-prepared plants for us come mud season.
PHOTO CAPTIONS: Cindy Tibbetts photos unless otherwise noted. Clematis Arabella is the world’s most popular non-vining clematis, flowering early and non-stop all summer; Clematis Condo is one of two greenhouses at Hummingbird Farm that protect the 75 varieties of clematis on site. The building is heated throughout Maine’s long winters. (Bill Van Tassel photo); Hummingbird Farm sign graced by the red-flowered Clematis Madam Julia Correvon, a re-discovered French variety. The Turner Nursery specializes in dozens of clematis varieties.; Cindy Tibbetts, owner of Hummingbird Farm in North Turner, has been busy with spring transplanting of a recent shipment of clematis plants into larger containers. (Bill Van Tassel photo); Clematis Elsa Spath has very large dark blue flowers that bloom in spring, followed by a later flush of blooms that are often lighter in color. This clematis has graced gardens since the late 1800s.
