My Potted Clivia Miniata

February 22, 2025

My farm is covered with patches of snow and ice, but inside my home I have beautiful, healthy, lush container plants - specifically, bright orange and yellow flowering Clivia miniata.

Over the years I have amassed quite a collection of potted specimens and I enjoy displaying them inside my Winter House when they are in bloom. My head gardener, Ryan McCallister, recently selected a lovely group of Clivia to decorate my enclosed porch. The colorful flowers are eye-catching and so cheerful, especially during these cold, gray, dreary days of winter.

Here are some photos, enjoy.

: Whenever my potted plants are flowering, I enjoy displaying them in my home where I, and my guests, can enjoy them.

: Right now, the Clivia plants are in bloom. Here is one just opening in my hoop house.

: Here are some in yellow. Clivia also comes in bright red, pink and white.

: Before transporting them to my Winter House, Ryan sprays the leaves with Leaf Shine, a spray used to clean and restore the natural luster of plant leaves.

: Then the plants are placed inside my Polaris vehicle and delivered quickly to my Winter House, so they are not affected by the very cold winter temperatures.

: And look who is right at the door ready to inspect what comes inside – it’s my newest feline, Dahlia, a gorgeous young calico Persian. She is so curious and friendly.

: And she enjoys checking everything out. Watch pets around the Clivia as the plants contain small amounts of lycorine, making them poisonous.Thankfully, my cats just enjoy smelling them.

: And here comes my silver shaded Persian, Magnolia, who is also very inquisitive and social.

: I have always loved Clivia. Clivia miniata, which is also known as bush lily, has a very faint, barely noticeable fragrance, but its flowers are so gorgeous.

: Clivia has fleshy, fibrous, shallow roots that grow horizontally just under the soil surface. Clivia plants are also semi-epiphytic, meaning in their natural environment they live above ground with their roots partially in leaf litter.

: The leaves of the Clivia plant emerge from the stem in a rosette pattern.

: The leaves are also dark green and arranged in two opposing rows as they mature.

: Each individual leaf is long, arching, and strap-like. At full length, each leaf is about 18 inches.

: The colorful flowers grow on tall stiff stems rising above the foliage.

: This time of year the plant produces clusters of showy trumpet-shaped flowers.

: And then they open with such profusion. Look at all the gorgeous blooms in every pot.

: This handsome evergreen perennial is slow-growing and thrives best in bright, indirect sunlight – a warm, sunny, south-facing window is great.

: Clivia prefers somewhat moist soil and does best when it is slightly dry between deep watering.

: It should should be fed a slow release fertilizer such as Miracle-Gro Osmocote or a liquid fertilizer at half-strength twice a month.

: If cared for properly, Clivias can bloom well into April or even May. And do you know… the genus Clivia, was named after the Duchess of Northumberland, Lady Charlotte Clive, who first cultivated the plant in England. The Latin specific epithet miniata means “cinnabar”, the color of red lead, referring to its flowers.