Now that you have been warned, lets proceed. Whether you are just a keen gardener looking for good, hardy and beautifully flowering shade plants for that shady corner in the garden, or a potentially terminally infected clivia nut who will, like most clivia growers, end up consistently running out of space to house all the seedlings from the crosses you made and hope to see flowering soon. Just keep reading …
Clivia are shade-loving but hardy plants native to the escarpment and coastal rainforest areas in South Africa. They are frost sensitive but will do well under the protection of evergreen trees. They also do very well as potted plants on a porch or nursery area where they are protected from too much sun or frost. They are drought resistant, but it is important not to grow them in areas where they get too much direct sunlight, especially afternoon sun. Filtered sunlight or an hour or two direct morning sun, at most.
Clivia are not to be confused with Agapanthus, a sun-loving plant with similar leaves but blue or white flowers, which is also an invasive species in New Zealand. Clivia are unrelated to these and are not invasive at all.
Clivia do well in well-drained soil and will provide attractive foliage all year round. They multiply by division or seed cultivation. You can increase the area covered by splitting up clusters, but they will take a year or two to be back to full glory. Grown from seeds they take about four years to flower.
Clivia are divided into species as they occurred in the habitat. Much of the natural habitat has been destroyed now, but growers all over the world have provided an ever-growing range of colours, shapes and variations of all species. When crosses are made between species, these are called interspecifics. Clivia are boundless in terms of the possible variations and new beauties are grown every year.