The Garden At Rock Cottage by Lance Brilliantine

By popular demand, I am writing another article on one of the superb potted plants: Clivia. This slow-growing, but majestic specimen plant belongs in every household. Like tulips in the 16th and 17th Centuries, individual plants may sell for thousands of dollars and there are many national and global organizations that focus solely on the cultivation and advancement of this plant. It is sought worldwide, where the best colors may sell for as much as $100,000 per plant.

Clivia (pronounced “Kli-via” – with the accent on the first syllable) produces clusters of upright florets of as many as 12-20 flowers, followed by cherry-like fruits in late fall and winter. A mature plant may produce ten or twenty flower stalks each season. Clivia is named after Lady Florentina Clive, granddaughter of Baron Robert Clive, the founder of the British Empire in India. It is a primitive genus of the Amaryllidaceae family and originates from South Africa.

The bloom time for the Clivia plant is early-to-mid spring. The most common variety produces orange-salmon colored flowers, but more rare forms may be in shades of white, cream-white, pink and yellow.

The plant is hardy only to locations that have no frost. It thrives as an indoor or greenhouse plant that can be moved outside to a warm, partly shady area in spring and summer. It grows outdoors in zones 8 or higher.

Clivia has large, evergreen, strap-like leaves with flowers appearing on sturdy stalks that grow just above the leaf tops. Flowers may be upright or pendulous. There are also some varieties with variegated leaves – highly prized and expensive.

Unlike its cousin the amaryllis, clivia does not grow from a bulb. Rather, it has an abundance of thick, rope-like roots that enjoy being pot-bound. Roots are sensitive to both disturbance and moisture. Use a well-drained soil mixed with peat moss and a pot one size smaller than expected. Because plants tend to be top-heavy, use pots with some weight. A mature clivia can easily fill a 24-inch pot. It may take five-to-seven years for a single plant to mature to the stage of blooming.

Clivia’s flourish in situations where they receive either early-morning sun, with shade for the remainder of the day. Plants grow actively from late winter through fall. In the active growing season, nighttime temperatures above 50 degrees F and daytime temperatures above 70 degrees F are required. Feeding the plant with a fish emulsion fertilizer every two-to-three months and letting the soil dry out between watering seems to be a key to success (though the plant generally prefers to be moist).

During the late fall and winter, the plant should be dried somewhat and fertilizer should be withheld. Temperatures can be reduced to about 55 degrees to let the plant rest. Increasing light and temperature in late January seems to invigorate the plant and evokes blooming. Under these conditions in a greenhouse, a clivia may bloom beginning in mid-February.

While the preferred method of propagation is by division, many people grow clivia from seed. Propagation from seed may take many months to produce a seedling (seeds may only germinate after six months or more). The cherry-like seedpods of a clivia typically contain two-to-four seeds. Seeds can be planted in a seed tray filled with a combination of sterile seedling soil and rotted compost. Press the seed into the top of the mixture and firm it down leaving a little of the upper, curved surface of the seed showing. The tray must be kept in a warm spot with good, but indirect light. Friends of mine have had success by burying the entire seedpod in a small pot and keeping the soil consistently moist.

Seedlings can be replanted into a 6-inch pot, but only with extreme care as the roots are fragile. The plant should be watered to keep the soil moist and indirect light is required.

Clivia is one the must-have plants for the home gardener – and frankly, for everyone that loves plants. A pot situated in an interior location where it receives morning sun and where it is kept slightly moist will produce lovely leaves and magnificent blooms. In the Hamptons, Wittendales on Newtown Lane often has specimens available.

This majestic plant is easy to grow and one of the truly spectacular additions to any gardener’s collection. It is highly recommended.

You can contact Lance Brilliantine with any questions or comments at GardenLance@yahoo.com.