Clivia enthusiasts let their passion bloom
Piet and Riana van Wyk, from Vredewyk Nursery in Gluckstadt, have been breeding clivias since 1992, and are absolute fundis when it comes to anything pertaining to these indigenous plants.
The Clivia Winter Exhibition brought more sunshine to an entrance of Pick ‘n Pay on Saturday.
This time of year sees the blossoming of the interspec (interspecific) variety of the clivia plant, explained clivia breeder and enthusiast, Nico Grobbelaar.
“You get your interspecs through cross-pollinating the gardenii and miniata varieties. The miniatas are recognised by their big flowers. Within that, there’s further cross-pollinating we do to achieve different colours,” he added, who also laughingly mentioned 95 per cent of clivia breeders are men.
Piet and Riana van Wyk, from Vredewyk Nursery in Gluckstadt, have been breeding clivias since 1992, and are absolute fundis when it comes to anything pertaining to these indigenous plants.
“We have 25 000 mature plants at our nursery and a further 13 000 seedlings I need to transplant myself. You’re always pollinating by hand, so you’re never exactly sure what the end product is going to look like, as plants never look the same. Another challenge is that the time from seed to blossoming is four to five years, so to see the result takes a long time,” elaborated Piet.
Riana added: “We strip the pollen from all the plants indoors, to ensure they [the plants] do not pollinate each other.”
The couple said the most expensive clivia sold in South Africa was worth R100 000, and the first green clivia sold for R32 000. Now Piet has hundreds of these varietals.
Anyone who is interested in clivia breeding or wants to know more about this fascinating plant, can call Nico (084 273 1632), Piet (083 651 4350) or Riana (073 449 4968).
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