NOT CONTENT WITH ITS FIRST CLOSEUP, the yellow Clivia offered this by week’s end last week, a full-on flowerhead of massive proportion. A great plant, as I have already mentioned.
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FROM THE WEEKLY PODCAST
smarter fall (and spring) cleanup, with doug tallamy
WHEN I TALKED to Doug Tallamy in February around the publication date of his latest book, “Nature’s Best Hope,” I didn’t want to go on and on about the advice in it regarding smart fall cleanup, which is one of the ways I know I’ve dramatically shifted the way I manage my own garden compared to 10 or even five years ago. But we were looking ahead to spring then, not fall.
I’m grateful that Doug returned to the podcast in autumn to do just that. Want to plan your most ecologically minded garden cleanup ever, and understand the consequences of each potential action you can take—including next spring?
The subtitle of University of Delaware professor Doug Tallamy’s recent book, “Nature’s Best Hope,” is “A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard.” Meaning: The choices we make all year-round, including the very important one of how we clean up, can help counteract an overdeveloped, fragmented landscape that puts the food web to the test. You and I are nature’s best hope, and I’m glad Doug joined me again to help us learn to support it.
(Stream it below, read the illustrated transcript or subscribe free.)
Isn’t it great that you have your indoor blooms as it seems it is taking to long for the outdoors to warm up.
Lovely, just lovely!
Heh. I gave one to my wife about a year and a half ago. The good news is the plant isn’t dead. The bad news is, it has never, ever bloomed.
I’ve heard these things need to be root-bound to bloom. Maybe in another year, the plant will be big enough?
Makes me wish I had indoor plants to keep me company until I can get outdoors to garden.
Welcome, Vigilant20 (a good name if you want to succeed in gardening!). Nice to see you. Yes, the Clivia is a good companion, nice even when not in flower.
Welcome, Rob. My plant (which was pretty small) didn’t bloom till year 3 with me, so don’t give up hope. On the earlier post, an expert grower jumped in on the comments and suggested his special flower-producing tips (he shows his plants), so you will want to look there, too.
Better and better!
WOW!
I so enjoy looking at this beauty (I am less enjoying the Phil Collins song stuck in my head right now!!)
:)
Rob,
If they are well cared for, clivia plants typically start to bloom around 3 to 4 years of age with a minimum of 8 adult leaves (about new 2 leaves per year). Anything smaller probably will not bloom. Also, they need a dormancy period of about 10 to 12 weeks of dry, cool temperature (40s) and darkness to initiate flowering buds. Root bound plants are less likely to bloom. This is a myth. They are also heavy feeders too – so give them plenty of food and send them outdoor under a shaded spot once the danger of frost is over.
Margaret, thank you for this review of clivias. I have 2, which my mother brought over from Germany hidden in her suitcase ( I know she shouldn’t have), probably in the late 1970s. They only survived because of my neglect. They have bloomed many times, sometimes when they should have and sometimes in the summer. They have not flowered in the last couple of winters and because we are spending February and March away, I was thinking of just giving up on them. You inspired me to keep going, and possibly passing them on to our daughter. I find it extremely hard to kill any living plant, especially one with such history and longevity. Now that I know what I am supposed to do – no problem with withholding water – and the cooling cycle, perhaps it will reward me with flowering for my 83rd birthday! Thank you for your inspiration.
You are welcome, Mariele. What a very nice story of the provenance of those plants!