KWAZULU-NATAL - CLIVIAS FOR THE FUTURE

KZN Clivia Club is holding their 2006 Clivia Show and Auction on the 15/16 September 2006 in Pietermaritzburg (http://www.places.co.za/html/pietermaritzburg.html) at the Royal Agricultural Show Grounds.

KwaZulu-Natal is ‘Clivia country’, the source of the most diverse and amazing original genetic material. The quality, colour and variation of plant and bloom size within the different habitat populations is mind-boggling. An exciting display of these plants will be on view at our Show – giving the Clivia enthusiast a first-hand view of the really large, majestic blooms and huge umbels in many shades of orange, peach and red - right down to pretty, dainty pastels, peaches and finally yellows of rich creamy hues.

In an effort to keep these habitat plants as pure and original as possible, as many of the early plants have been inter-bred with the broad leaf strain, breeders and growers are working with the yellow wild clones with a view to increasing and conserving the original yellow genetic pool. Most of the habitat locations have been destroyed and very few plants remain in the wild. The very few that still exist are being gathered from the wild at an alarming and out-of-control rate. Most of the habitat yellows and peaches do not produce unpigmented seedlings when crossed with Group 1 and Group 2 yellows, but by breeding them within their own group breeders have managed to produce unpigmented plants.

To give Clivia enthusiasts, breeders and growers a chance to include this precious genetic material in their collections, KZN CLIVIA CLUB, in conjunction with our Show, are holding an AUCTION on the SATURDAY 16 SEPTEMBER 2006, which is the weekend after the Conference Show in Pretoria. On offer will be a limited amount of seedlings and offsets of these wild collected clones as well as other well-known prized clones, many of which have won top prizes at our previous shows.

For those of you who perhaps had decided to give our show a miss, we strongly recommend that you make every effort to attend our show and auction and not miss the chance of a lifetime of obtaining at least one of our highly sought after plants.

The Conference coordinators, together with the KZN Clivia Club, are offering organised tours to habitat locations in the Province. Pietermaritzburg is the capital of KwaZulu-Natal - a 5 hour scenic drive by car from Johannesburg/Pretoria or a 1 hour flight.