Seed

clivia seeds
At the wedding of the ‘next sister down’ the weekend before last, the no 1 nephew and I collected clivia seeds*. Clivia’s are one of my favorite plants, with their dark green glossy leaves and bright orange flowers. Their seeds when ripe turn a deep orange to red, and are just the thing for a four year old with lots of energy to go in search of, when the adults are busy mingling. About a dozen seeds were collected, and would not be wasted; as a momento of the day, my old school and all of that; I plan to grow them.

I commenced the process last weekend by rummaging through recent issues of Gardening Australia, remembering there were instructions specifically on clivia seed germination. I found them in the September issue.

Step 1 ~ Remove seed from the fleshy pod and soak seed overnight in water with a drop of bleach
Step 2 ~ Soak two paper towels in a weak solution of bleach and water, drain off the paper towels so they are not too wet
Step 3 ~ Line the bottom of a container with the paper towels, place seeds, and cover with another bleach-dipped layer of paper towel. Cover the container with an airtight lid.
Step 4 ~ Rest seeds in the warmest part of the house to germinate. This can take two to six weeks.

With step one underway, a spot reserved in the laundry for step four, and all going well I should have some well advanced seedlings in progress by the time the nephew is down at Christmas time.

*My apologies for the marigold that got uprooted, there was some confusion given the similarity in colours.