Chances are you’ve never grown a clivia before. Here and there, some folks have wondered about the flowering plant they saw flowering in late spring, but that’s as far as it went. Today, clivia is yours to discover, not as a plant you trash after it’s flowered, but as a plant you coddle all year long to force the colorful flowers to happen in May-June. Clivias are indoor plants year-round.

First, most folks call the plant clivia (cliv-e-ah), but the correct pronounciation is kli-v-ah. Say this a few times and you’ll get the knack of it: kli-v-ah! Another name is also ascribed to the plant, so you may have heard kaffir lily before. Yes, kaffir lily and clivia are one and the same plant.

Clivia is a bulb that flowers every year. Grown in a plastic pot, clivia sends up a long stalk some two feet tall with strappy, glossy green leaves. On the negative side, young clivias cannot bloom, only mature bulbs do.

Your first experience with the clivia happens in late January when you visit the nursery. There, you will find clivias flowering with orange, salmon and scarlet flowers. Stalks may run 20-24 inches tall, with flowers exploding atop a dozen or more pendulous leaves. In late winter when most homes are devoid of flowering plants, clivia holds center-stage.

If you buy a clivia in late winter, pick up the care program at the flowering cycle. We begin the care program with clivias that have been cared for through spring, summer and early fall.

Late October. In the last days of the month, stop watering the plant. Apply no water whatever from Halloween into February when the clivia should send up new shoots from the soil preparatory to flowering. Wait until the shoots are 2 or 3 inches tall, then move the plant to cool room where room temperatures are stable between 50 and 55 degrees. The room must have some bright indirect light. Set the plant so it will benefit from bright light, but no full sun. Consider taping a note to the side of the pot saying “don’t water.”

Most people make the mistake of watering when they find the first shoots sprouting above the soil. Don’t water when you find these shoots poking their heads above the soil. However, you should move the plant to a warmer room with bright indirect sunlight. Do nothing until the stalks are some six inches tall, then start watering. Use tepid water. Water only to keep the soil lightly moist (maybe every four or five days). Always water in the morning.

March onward. Maintain the regular watering cycle as the stalk (really a “scape”) grows taller and taller. Place a strip of masking tape on the side of the pot OPPOSITE the light source (such as a window). From then on when you water the plant, the pot must be placed so the masking tape is always opposite the light source (in other words, you see the masking tape when you first see the plant). While the flowers remain, the pot must never be turned, or the flowers will drop in a day or two. During the flowering cycle, water to keep the soil lightly moist, but do not fertilize.

Flowers wither. Use a sharp pruning shears to cut the stems close to the soil surface. All stems must be cut in this manner. From here, the soil must be allowed to dry thoroughly between waterings. Use tepid water, watering every 8-to-10 days from then on. Do not fertilize.

After flowering. Clivia will start to develop strong glossy green leaves. Allow the soil to dry thoroughly between waterings. Bright indirect light is sufficient for the plant.

First week of May. Clivias need energy now to grow the leaves needed for sugar so flowers happen next May-June. In the first days of May, apply fertilizer every other week through the last week of August. Your best product is Jack’s Classic 20-20-20 water-soluble plant food. Pre-mix the fertilizer in a plastic gallon milk jug, labeled for your clivia. Keep records when you fertilize. Apply Jack’s Classic every other week from early May to late August. Stop feeding at that time, reverting to the 8-to-10 day watering cycle as before.