RocksRox
It's a bit early yet right? In my (admittedly limited) experience with cloning you only need her to have branches 4-6", and you can get there in a couple weeks.
Around here we usually don't put it in ground until just before memorial day, so walking backwards from mid-May, a week or 2 for the clone, and 3-4 weeks for the mother, I'd think you'd want to wait until March, or late Feb at the earliest. Just my 2 cents though! Let me know if I'm no considering something!