The Earth laughs in flowers - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Oh, how happy I am when Spring arrives even if it's only to see all the beautiful flowers in my garden wake up from their Winter sleep, stretch their arms and unfurl their heads. This is particularly true of my clivias and hippeastrums (more commonly called amaryllis). They are both just such showy flowers and provide a beautifully bright splash of colour to a garden still quite drably attired especially in terms of the dull, beige-coloured lawn that only has a hint here and there of the green we are hoping it will revert to once enough rain has fallen. Here in South Africa, unfortunately, that is not always a given! Generally, where I live, our lawn, fortunately, eventually turns green.
We were very fortunate when we bought our home in Oct 2006 (just before we got married) to find a very well-established garden that was immaculately kept by the previous owner, Des Henderson, who loved gardening and had ample time as a retiree to maintain the garden with manicured perfection (I think he would turn in his grave to see it now), although, I have to say, I think he would be quite pleased to see some of the changes we have made and the way we have continued to care for the garden.
In the backyard is a conifer with a lovely spreading crown under which Des had planted clivias. They have since multiplied a bit and we have also added to their number, They seem to thrive under the shade of the tree getting lots of humic material from the needles that fall. Clivias are native to Southern Africa and belong to the family Amaryllidaceae and are also commonly known as the Natal lily or Bush lily.
Most of the clivias are just the ordinary, common orange clivia miniata that everyone recognises, but I also have some hybrid Belgian clivia miniatas whose leaves are a little broader and strappier. Their flowers do look different and are a deeper orange too.
I also have some pale yellow clivias.
I will soon be getting some seeds from a friend of mine. Kate, who breeds new varieties. It has a variegated flower and I am hoping that we will be successful in germinating the seeds. Awesome husband to the rescue. What would I do without all his technical and agricultural knowledge?
My hippies are an absolute delight to behold. Their flowers are so boldly magnificent. Once again I was blessed to "inherit" a whole lot of hippies already established in my garden, but we have significantly added to our collection. The "Big Six" (so called because each stalk produces six huge blooms) cannot be beaten for its magnificent show. It boggles my mind how six of these huge blooms can come from one bulb! Those blooms formed in the bulb before the bulb went dormant in the Winter - how amazing is that!
How beautiful are these striped hippies that greet me when I walk into my back garden? I cannot help but feel my spirits lift. Such glorious abundance.
The hippies above are white with red stripes, but I also have hippies that are red with white stripes. This photo below was taken halfway through October, so I think we still have a way to go before we see these flowers. The "Big Six" always flowers much earlier than the other varieties.
I have some beautiful pink hippies too that we had initially planted behind our woodshed, but never got to enjoy as they were hidden from view. In 2018 we transplanted them and I am hoping we get some flowers this year.
Another hippie is this white one with a few touches of pink.
