Something’s amiss!

 

Something’s amiss!

While the garden goes on happily looking after itself, something’s amiss in the conservatory. Several of the plants have white patches on their leaves. It’s the clivias that are really severely affected. I have been spraying them with something that’s supposed to do away with little pests, but it hasn’t been effective, so in desperation I’ve cut the leaves right down to the soil.

I’m aware that the plants may not survive and that would be a shame, as they all stem from one plant I gave my mother about thirty years ago. It only flowered once for her, but after she died, I brought it back to our house and it thrived, flowering every year, sometimes twice a year. Naturally, the flowers remind me of her.

Mealybugs on clivia

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

I’ve tracked the little beasties down online and identified them as mealybugs. The best control for them is the Australian mealybug ladybird (Cryptolaemus montrouzieri) but the current temperature in the conservatory is only 13˚C (55.4˚F) It needs to be at least 16˚C for the ladybirds to start feeding and they are most effective at higher temperatures, between 20-25˚C. If the temperature falls below 9˚C they stop feeding altogether, so it would be a little risky to introduce them now.

                    Mealybug ladybird (Cryptolaemus montrouzieri) 
                                    Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

In UK, mealybug ladybirds, also known as mealybug destroyers, are usually used only in greenhouses, but have been remarkably successful in controlling infestations in citrus orchards across the world.

Clivia

 

Clivia

My parents loved and nurtured all kinds of plants, both indoor and outdoor. It would be fair to say that they had green fingers. My father loved fuchsias and grew many varieties, but my mother particularly enjoyed house plants. She was also an amazing flower arranger, entirely self-taught.

About thirty years ago, long after my father died, I gave my mother a clivia, which flowered beautifully just once. No matter what she tried, or where she situated it, it never flowered again for her, though all her other plants thrived and rewarded her care with beauty.

After she died, I inherited her clivia and brought it home to our conservatory. To my surprise, it flourished and flowered. Eventually, it grew too big and had to be repotted and still it grew.

Finally, I had to divide it and from one plant gained three, all strong, strapping plants. They all produce large heads of blooms, but all flower at slightly different times, so that our conservatory has a long sequence of gorgeous, bright orange flowers. Soon, they will need to be divided again. Every time I look at my lovely clivias I think of my mother.

 Perhaps, after all, I inherited just one of her green fingers.

Clivia

Clivia

I gave my mother this Clivia fourteen or fifteen years ago. It only flowered once for her but it has bloomed every year for me since she died twelve years ago and is a wonderful reminder of her, if I should ever need one. 

I am linking to Today's Flowers where you can see many beautiful flowers across the world.

Today's Flowers #70 Clivia

The Clivia or Kaffir Lily is a member of the Amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae) native to Southern Africa. It is also known as the bush lily. The flowers emerge almost secretively from the shelter at the base of the strappy evergreen leaves. Unlike many plants it thrives in conditions varying from bright to dim light and in dry or moist soil. For best results though, it should be grown in bright diffused light in moist soil.
In the summer it can be taken outside but needs to be brought in before first frosts. Eventually the fleshy roots fill the pot and then the plant can be divided. Clivias benefit from a dry rest period of about two months in winter - flowers produced from plants that have not rested rarely grow their stems much above the base of the plant.
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