Re: clivia

**E* Z* <e*@acmeplant.com>**

Clivia miniata is an excellent houseplant and I almost always feature  
it in my houseplant presentations.  Mine blooms without fail every  
late Feb/early March and I find two things to be key.

1)	water about once a month from October until I see a bloom spike,  
then water once a week.
2)	keep it in an unused guest room, where temps get to about 50  
degrees in winter.  The cold drop is essential not only for the  
Clivia to set bloom, but also to ensure that the bloom spike rises  
above the foliage.  Sometimes a flower will form and be held low,  
clasped (almost invisibly) between the leaves of the plant.  A cold  
drop ensures that the bloom will be held above the leaves.  If you  
don't have a spare bedroom where you can keep the temperatures low,  
find your draftiest window.  You're trying to mimic the growing  
conditions in Clivia's native South Africa, where the plant  
experiences dormancy before flowering.

Clivia tolerates a wide range of light levels.  Mine get's northern  
light all year round, which is less than what is usually recommended,  
yet it blooms very well.  One client keeps hers in full southern  
light, but since it's in the living room (where temps don't drop) the  
flower is almost always held too low to be enjoyed.

LN

On Jan 2, 2008, at 10:24 AM, Jeff Minnich wrote:

> Catriona,
>
> I'm here in Arlington, VA, and I do the same as you--mine actually  
> blooms
> outside in the summer for me (I keep it in deep shade under a Southern
> Magnolia in the summer), and it sits in a bright, cool room in the  
> winter
> and basically just rests.  My two pots of clivia are rootbound, and  
> I've
> always heard they bloom if rootbound (not sure if this is true or  
> not).  As
> far as light requirement, they are right down there with  
> aspidistra--among
> the lowest-light houseplants I know--and easy.
>
> Jeff
> Jeff Minnich
> Jeff Minnich Garden Design, Inc.
> www.minnichgardendesign.com
> 703.525.4540
> "Earth Laughs in Flowers"  Ralph Waldo Emerson
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Catriona Tudor Erler" <cterler@gardenvista.com>
> To: "Garden Writers -- GWL -- The Garden Writers Forum"
> <gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2008 10:17 AM
> Subject: [GWL] clivia
>
>
>> Here in Virginia I've had an orange clivia for several years.  I  
>> keep it
>> outdoors in the warm months, and bring it inside during the winter.
>> Alas, it hasn't ever flowered, so I'm thinking of giving up.  Any
>> suggestions?  The friend who gave it to me gets flowers, but she  
>> has a
>> sun room where her tender plants live in the winter.   I don't have
>> that.  Maybe mine isn't getting enough light?...
>>    Catriona
>>
>> Kathryn Marsh wrote:
>>
>>> Mine sits next to the orange one and behaves exactly like it. Its
>>> strictly an indoor plant here in Ireland - can just about survive  
>>> the
>>> winter outside but won't flower if you leave it out so it lives and
>>> thrives in an unheated conservatory.
>>>
>>> Kathryn
>>>
>>>
>>> On 2 Jan 2008, at 14:54, loisdan@juno.com wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> Grandma's clivia made such an impression on me in the 1950s that,
>>>> decades
>>>> later, I instantly recognized it in a plant catalog. Alas, I don't
>>>> much
>>>> care for orange flowers. Now that the price of the yellow clivia  
>>>> has
>>>> finally come down some, I'm ready to make my move. Does anyone have
>>>> experience with the yellow clivia? Is it as easy, easier than,  
>>>> or more
>>>> difficult than the orange?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> Lois J. de Vries
>>>> Visit http://loisdevries.blogspot.com
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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