The clivias are blooming
It’s a madhouse at Utopia Clivias in Sedgefield during spring, says the owner, Carrie Krüger. “Springtime is flowering time, and the nursery is full of life and colour. It is an exciting time, because new hybrids are blooming for the first time. At our annual open weekends – this year from 15 to 17 and 22 to 24 September – visitors get to experience thousands of clivias in full bloom.” (Find more information on page 19.)
Clivias, also called bush lilies, are popular with South African gardeners. The genus is endemic to South Africa and Eswatini, and comprises only six species, although an astonishing number of colour varieties have been developed over the years by breeders like Carrie.
Growing up on a farm in the Eastern Cape instilled a love of nature in Carrie from a young age. She owned a nursery for years, but in 1998 she decided to focus exclusively on clivias – and that’s how Utopia Clivias came about.
As it gets warmer after winter, the pollination of interspecies varieties at the nurseries comes to an end, Carrie says. The seeds have been harvested and planted, orders have been mailed to people in numerous countries, and the team start to transplant seedlings into larger pots.
Carrie is a clivia expert. She is constantly working to develop new, interesting colour varieties, and she’s involved in the international Clivia Society. Years of dedication have produced a few varieties of which she’s particularly proud.
Carrie says Star Green is their flagship plant, with remarkable colours that set it apart from the rest. It’s the kind of plant that raises clivia breeding to a new level, she says. With Star Green as breeding plant, Carrie has created beautiful hybrids that have been registered on the international clivia register. They are also proud of all the interspecific clivia varieties that they’ve bred over the past few years, as well as their Vico Pink and Ghost ranges.
The business is a family affair. Carrie and her husband, Zwaai, dedicated a part of their clivia garden to the memory of their eldest son, Jason, who died in 2009. They donate seeds to young people and learners worldwide who are interested in clivias, and in this way his spirit lives on. Today, their son Luke is at the helm of the business with Carrie, and will take over when she retires. Their daughters, Kyla and Jade, also lend a hand when necessary.
Looking back over a quarter of a century in the industry, Carrie says there have been tough times, and patience is a virtue when it comes to these plants. “What you sow, you cannot reap immediately,” she says. “Clivias are so beautiful, but few people realise how long it takes to get them to flower. To get from a seed to a flowering clivia takes five years.”
But then you get that one plant that stands out head and shoulders above the rest… “And then you know you’ve hit the jackpot. Those flowers make the long wait worth it.”