Add Photo to Journal
|
|
| Photo Credit: Gerald Klingaman |
| Want springtime color indoors? Try clivia - each bloom cluster can last 3-4 weeks! |
Winter - you either adore it or endure it. Either way, the signs of spring are a refreshing change of pace - especially to the winter weary. But while the daffodils and crocus are starting to peek their heads out of the ground, offering a bright little break to the otherwise gray scenery outside, there's not a lot going on inside to perk up one's gardening soul.
But then there's clivia! This South African member of the amaryllis family is a gorgeous indoor houseplant that starts to bloom just when our tired eyes need something colorful to awaken our spirits. There are six species of Clivia to date, the most common of which is C. miniata. Sometimes called Kaffir lily or bush lily (but most commonly just clivia), this beauty reaches about 30 inches tall when in flower! Speaking of its flowers, they are something to behold! In spring, as the days brighten and temperatures warm, clivias start to bloom. Typically about 20 or so large, 2-inch-long, trumpet-shaped flowers burst forth in a dense terminal cluster. These blooms are usually orange, but hybridizers have been busy creating wonderful shades of orange-red, yellow and creamy-white flowers. If you grow clivia as a houseplant, the flowers typically bloom for three or four weeks. And if your clivia has multiple crowns (or fans of foliage), the bloom scapes will emerge at different times and extend the length of your plant's bloom season. That should be long enough to get you to the part of spring when more plants begin to bloom outside!
|