Designer Clivias

Thanks to passionate local and international breeders, there are now even more beautiful and interesting colours and patterns available

- Lynne Yates And Loren Shirley-carr

The world of clivia breeding is one of dedication and ardent competition. Although clivias were discovered in KwaZulu-Natal in the 1800s, it was the advent of the yellow-flowered Clivia miniata that inspired horticulturists in the early 1900s to begin their selective breeding of the plant.

“Due to the tireless work of breeders over the years, clivias now come in a multitude of colors, including brown, brick, bronze, gold, green, orange, peach, salmon pink, red, white and yellow, as well as color patterns such as bicolor, Versicolor and ghost,” explains Sakkie Nel of the Clivia Society of South Africa. They’re also bred to flower more often, grow more vigorously, bear more blooms and have a higher resistance to pests and disease.

EXCITING COLOURS

Breeding a clivia with a new color or pattern takes years of work. “Growers dream of being able to determine the color of a new flower at the seedling stage without having to wait four years or more to see its first flower,” says Sakkie. Although not as readily available as the orange and yellow varieties, there are many clivias with extraordinary colors to choose from today including ‘Red Planet’ from Clivia Couture, green ‘Winter Mint’ from the Clivia Guy and multicolored ‘Spirit’ and ‘Dreaming’ from Utopia Clivias.

UNUSUAL BLOOM PATTERNS

Versicolour: The outer surface of the tepal (a flower’s outer whorl) is a different color to that of the inner surface. For example, green, white and orange ‘Star Green Destiny’ and ‘Over the Moon’ from Utopia Clivias.