Fair Orchids

Clivia miniata is an easy companion plant to orchids.  It tolerates lower temperatures, and has lower light requirements (my dad used to grow Clivias under the bench with Paphiopedilum, taking them up on the bench for sale only when they budded up).  Back then we only had the regular orange type, and one of my tasks was pollinating flowers on the plants that didn't sell, so we could produce more for the future.

I refrained from offering Clivia while Piping Rock Orchids did so.  Since this nursery no longer exists, I have added Clivia to my activities.  The Chinese source who supplied Piping Rock has disappeared, so we can no longer obtain that range of dwarf variegated plants. 

1.     I have managed to re-acquire a single plant from that program (#054 below), and have a few                        seedlings from a selfing (still rather small though).

2.     From an orchid/clivia collection dispersal, I have obtained one more of these plants.  In 2025 I have           pollinated 5 flowers with a yellow ('Krugerrand strain'), and selfed another 5 flowers to see whether           the plant is self-fertile.

3.     I have sourced a 3rd variegated plant on Ebay (provenance unknown), but this should allow me to               produce more variegated seedlings in the future. 

4.     Additionally, a friend, who was instrumental in the importation of the Chinese plants, kept half a                 dozen.  Those plants are not blooming yet, but eventually we should get more seeds.

Almost all the Clivias in my collection are non-standard in some respect.  A few were 'unknown color' (due to lost labels) seedlings from either Belgian or Australian seed; these plants are almost certainly standard orange.  The rest of the 2-4 year US seed plants currently available are:

• Selfing of a dwarf orange (X018), probably 2 years to BS.

• Selfing of a multi-tepal orange (X030), only 2 left, probably 2-3 years to BS.

• Narrow leaf yellow x Daruma orange = orange flowers, but genetically 1/2 yellow (X016).

• Selfing of a 2-tone orange (please see X003 [probably = 'Conway's Ramona']).  I am holding the remaining plants back, so I can see them bloom; the first to bloom was spectacular (#063).  In that blooming I selfed the flowers and harvested 50+ seeds in March 2025.

• Yellow/Peach (#008) x Yellow/Green (X025).  Probably 3-4 years to BS.  It is possible that #008 could be Group 2, in which case this population will bloom out orange (but carry both yellow & green genes). 

Additionally, I offer seedlings based on seed from Utopia Clivia, South Africa. The 2022 shipment is sold out.  Seedlings from the 2023 shipment (about 250 seeds from several different breeding directions) will be released mid 2025.  The 2024 shipment will have more greens; those plants will be released starting in late 2025.

The photos following below are a mix of breeding stock and plants available:

               YTB = Years To Blooming size   DUS = Depending Upon Size   NYR = Not Yet Released for sale   NS = Natural Spread (diameter)

001     = Yellow, from Dragon Agro breeding program, BS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   $45 each (3 available)

X003 = Orange bi-color, selfing of good bi-color, 1-2 YTB, US seed . . . . . . . . . . . .  Please consult.

#008 = Yellow with touch of peach (= Grp 2?), 1 BS division available now . . . . .   $100

X016  = Yellow narrow leaf x Orange Daruma = Orange/50% yellow genes, 1-2 YTB $30-40 ea DUS

X018  = Orange, selfing of dwarf form, 1-2 YTB, US seed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    $25-30 (April 2024)

024     = Good multi-tepal, 8-12 tepals, 4 off-sets will be available in 2025 . . . . . .   $125 ea

X025  = Yellow/green if 008 is Grp. 1 (008 x Kyle's green) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   $36-50 (April 2024)