Tuesday was hot and clear. I made a trek with my good friend, Carol to the even hotter climes of Sonoma County to visit Chalk Hill Farm http://chcfarm.com/. Chalk Hill specializes in growing one flower variety only: the clematis, a viney perenial with lovely star shaped flowers of all shapes and hues. The goal was to make an introductory visit to the farm and bring some home to experiment with. Chalk Hill takes their clematis seriously. When we arrived, we were led into a beautifully designed workshop where the clematis was laid out on a table for our perusal like fine artisional cheeses. Fernando, the keeper of the clematis, kept bringing out more varieties from the cooler and finally let me go in and sift carefully through buckets of exquisite flowers, tendrils tangling and untangling.
Clematis is not widely available even at the San Francisco Flower Mart. Chalk Hill has created a welcome niche business as they grow specifically for the floral design business and ship all over the county. Diversification seems key to the survival of any farm. Other offerings are olive oil and balsamic vinegar, a beautiful workshop space and refrigerator to rent, and a book on clematis growing. There is a small rustic/formal garden that we toured and found a shady spot to lunch. It's mass of climbing roses were past their prime, but the clematis were doing just fine and will be flowering into early fall.
I already knew that the evergreen clematis armandii is one tough cookie, but in general they are a new material for me. It seems that clematis flowers are surprisingly long lasting. Delicate, yet tough. Looking forward to working with this new friend.
No comments:
Post a Comment