Longwood Launches New ‘Fireworks’

I am excited to introduce to you a completely new type of Fireworks at Longwood Gardens—Clivia miniata ‘Longwood Fireworks’!

Clivia miniata "Longwood Fireworks'

This is the second introduction from Longwood’s clivia breeding program, which started in 1976. ‘Longwood Fireworks’ boasts a burst of yellow flowers that fills the skies above the foliage. The individual petals of the florets are reflexed and curve backward and the florets are arranged in a perfect sphere, creating an impressive display. The stamens curve and extend beyond the petals. The form and arrangement of the floret give the impression of the petals blowing back and the stamens shooting out to produce an explosion of bloom.

Fireworks & Fountains at Longwood Gardens

Last year, before receiving its name, ‘Longwood Fireworks’ was entered into the North American Clivia Show and won First Place and Best in Division ribbons. Traditionally, the summer skies above Longwood are filled with fireworks that accompany fountain shows and now we have award-winning floral fireworks as well.

You can see Clivia miniata ‘Longwood Fireworks’ in the Conservatory beginning March 17. Last year we released the first plant from our clivia breeding program—Clivia miniata ’Longwood Debutante’, which will also be on display in the Conservatory in March. A limited number of both plants are available for sale in our GardenShop.

Clivia miniata 'Longwood Debutante' in the research greenhouses.

If you are interested in more clivia festivities, don’t miss the North American Clivia Society Show on March 17 & 18 at Longwood Gardens. Clivia enthusiasts from across the country will exhibit their prize plants, and Longwood will be showing plants from our breeding program—including a sneak peek of possible future clivia introductions. Stop by the information table during the show to have your clivia growing questions answered and cast your vote on Saturday for the People’s Choice Award.

If you have a prized clivia at home that will be in bloom on March 17 & 18, please bring it to show off. There will be Novice classes this year for flowering and non-flowering plants, which are open only to those who have never won a Blue Ribbon for a clivia plant. Additionally, you can bring you plant for display in the Enthusiast’s class. In this class, your plant will not be judged, but you can still show it off. I hope to see you and your plant at the Clivia Show!

The 2011 North American Clivia Show at Longwood Gardens

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‘Longwood Debutante’ Ready for Debut

Clivia miniata 'Longwood Debutante'

After 35 years of clivia breeding, Longwood Gardens is releasing its first named clivia when the North American Clivia Society holds its International Symposium and Show at Longwood Gardens March 19 and 20, 2011.  Clivia enthusiasts from around the world will be in attendance when ‘Longwood Debutante’ makes her debut into Clivia Society in the elegant Longwood Ballroom.  Scarlet O’Hara would be jealous!

Inside the research greenhouses

Back in 1976 when the breeding program started, clivias were commonly orange. The yellow flowers existing at the time were not impressive and rare, so Longwood decided to initiate a breeding program to produce a superior yellow clivia.  ‘Longwood Debutante’ has achieved the goal of the breeding program with its luminous yellow flowers that rise above the dark green foliage.  Her flowers are slightly fragrant with petals that overlap to produce a beautiful floral display.  This is the first release in a series of Longwood clivia cultivars.

Clivia berries containing seeds

Cliva seeds removed from the berry

Why did it take so long to release the first plant?  Thirty five years is a long time to wait. A good number of current students and employees  at Longwood were not even alive when the program started! One factor that slowed the program was the extended time it takes for a clivia seedling to mature.  Seedlings can take up to eight years to bloom from the time the seed is planted, so patience is needed.  Longwood speeds up the process in our research greenhouses by keeping the seedlings actively growing all year long, rather than allowing them to go dormant in the winter. The trick is to get the seedling to mature quickly—and maturity occurs when the plant produces 13 leaves.  Once the plant has 13 leaves, it is ready to produce a flower.  Then, when you finally have a blooming plant, the plants are slow to multiply.  It can take years for the parent plant to produce offsets. Results are slow in clivia breeding!

While breeding for the superior yellow flower, interesting mutations began to occur.  Both yellow and orange flowers began to exhibit a raised area, or keel, in some petals.  The term “keeling” refers the shape of the keel of the boat. The keeling petals add extra depth and interest to the flowers. We decided that the breeding program would also focus on accentuating the keel, in hopes of producing a multi-petal flower.  The normal number of petals on a clivia flower is six, but if the keel separates from the petals, a flower with nine petals can result.  Keeling flowers are interesting by themselves even if they don’t have extra petals. We now have some potential keeling cultivars in the works in our research greenhouses.

Longwood decided that a perfect venue for the release of ‘Longwood Debutante’ would be at the North American Clivia Society Show and Symposium. We have lined up an international cast of speakers including: Ken Smith from Australia, who manages the clivia registry; James Abel from South Africa, who is an expert on clivia in the wild; Harold Koopowitz, who literally wrote the book on clivia; Jim Comstock, who dazzles with a 3D clivia slide show; and Dr. Robert Armstrong, who started the clivia breeding program at Longwood.

Longwood’s visitors can enjoy the clivia show March 19 & 20 in the Exhibition Hall, as well as a special display of ‘Longwood Debutante’ in front of the Music Room. Everyone can register for the conference—you don’t have to be a member of a Clivia Society.  Conference attendees are invited to a dinner and auction of rare clivia plants on March 19. You can enter your plant into the show, too! This is your chance to show off your clivia plant.  A limited number of ‘Longwood Debutante’ will be available for sale in the Gardens Shop starting on March 20. We will also have orange and yellow bi-colored clivias for sale. You can own your own piece of Longwood history!

Clivia miniata 'Longwood Debutante'

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Longwood’s First Clivia Show a Success!

On March 13 and 14, 2010, Longwood Gardens hosted its first Clivia Show, complete with a lecture segment. It turned out to be a wet weekend with almost constant rain. The weather, however, did not dampen the festivities. Sweeps of yellow and orange Clivia miniata, exotic blue Himalayan poppies, and hundreds of orchids, creating an Orchid Extravaganza, were tucked safely into Longwood’s five acres of conservatories.  The Clivia Show was nestled into this refuge for horticulture.

A total of 74 plants were entered into the show, which was staged in the Exhibition Hall, around the Fern Floor and in front of the Music Room. A living orchid curtain and stately Australian tree ferns acted as a back drop.  The show included categories for blooming plants, foliage plants, cut umbels, and cut florets.  The entries fell into seventeen different classes within seven divisions of these categories. Ribbons were awarded for 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd places within each class, as well as for best in division and honorable mentions.  The best in show was won by Mike Riska for his Clivia ‘Nancy Marie’.

Best in Show Clivia ‘Nancy Marie’

Visitors came from as far south as Florida and as far north as Massachusetts, with Tom Wells and John Ingram attending all the way from California. Numerous local enthusiasts braved the elements too. Many people were inspired to attend by a feature article on Clivia and Mike Riska, written by Moira Sheredin that appeared in the The News Journal.  Approximately 100 people attended the lectures, which were introduced by Longwood’s director, Paul Redman, and the NACA President Tom Wells. I spoke on the work Longwood is performing with Clivia including breeding, tissue culture, and germination experiments. Mike Riska spoke on the joys of growing Clivia on the east coast.  The lectures were well received and generated a long question and answer session at the conclusion of Mike’s talk. After the lecture segment, guests were invited to attend a tour of Longwood’s production and research areas.  During this tour they had the rare opportunity to see Longwood’s breeding Clivias at peak bloom, with the greenhouse a riot of color and texture.

This year’s Clivia Show was the warm up for the international Clivia event, which will be held at Longwood in 2011. With so much enthusiasm at this year’s event, the 2011 international event is sure to be a great success.  Details about the 2011 event will be posted on both Longwood Gardens’ website as well as the North American Clivia Society’s website, as the event draws nearer.

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Growing Clivia From Seed

In late winter and spring, your Clivia may be displaying some beautiful fruit. Clivia with yellow flowers will produce yellow fruit, while Clivia with orange flowers will produce red fruit. The fruit is actually a berry that contains seeds inside. If your Clivia did not produce fruit this year, it may not have been pollinated. Pollination is a simple act that is accomplished by taking ripe pollen that sheds easily from the anthers onto your finger or a Q-tip, and placing it on the stigma. The stigma is the tube that protrudes form the center of the flower with three short branches on the end. If pollination is successful, the ovary at the base of the petals will begin to swell and produce a berry. If pollination is not successful, the ovary will not grow and eventually fall off of the flower stem. It will take up to a year for the berry to ripen.

Harvest the berries when they are ripe. Make sure the berry is in color and soft, like a peach, or crackles when you squeeze it. If it exhibits these traits, it is then ripe and ready for harvest. Peel open the berry with your fingernail to reveal the seeds inside. The seeds remind me of pearls. I always have a moist paper towel handy to wipe my hands when I do this as the berry juice can be a bit sticky. Sometimes the seeds have a thin coating of flesh on the outside that peels off easily.

Freshly picked berries.

Seeds removed from the berry.

The seeds should not be allowed to dry out, or they may not germinate. Some books suggest soaking the seeds in water overnight. I have not done this, and I do get good germination. If you have time, you may try soaking them. I do drop my seeds in a dilute detergent solution, swirl them around, and rinse them off. This removes any contaminants that may lead to disease. Plant the seeds immediately after rinsing.

Here at Longwood, I germinate the seeds in boxes designed for tissue culture in a growth chamber. I realize not everyone has access to these resources. At home, I plant the seeds in pots in a peat-based media and cover the top of the pot with saran wrap. Plant the seed so that half of it is exposed. There is a brown/burnt-looking spot on the seeds. The root emerges from the opposite end of the brown spot. Germinate the seeds at 70 degrees F. Some people germinate the seeds in Tupperware with moist vermiculite lining the bottom of the container. They then plant the germinated seeds in pots. You should see a root emerge in about a month. Later a leaf will form. If you have planted the seed in a container, the root may lift the seed out of the soil. Drill a hole and stick it back it. The roots don’t seem to have a good sense of orientation and will grow every which way. They often need your help.

Good Luck! For more on the Clivia breeding program at Longwood, click here.

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