Clivias are classed among the most desirable of all connoisseur plants, offering not only spectacular flowers but also interesting variations in both leaf variegation and plant form. Despite their reputation as specialist plants, however, clivias are surprisingly easy to grow and tolerant of abuse. Koopowitz has written the first book to delightfully detail the genusClivia.Beginning with the story of their discovery, he moves on to issues of cultivation, hybridization, and propagation.
This book is only available through print on demand. All interior art is black and white.
Harold Koopowitz is Professor of Ecology at the University of California at Irvine. Previously, he was the Director of the University of California at Irvine Arboretum for twenty years when it specialized in African bulbous and cormous plants. Koopowitz has long-standing interests in the hybridization of a variety of specialist plants, including slipper orchids, daffodils, and clivias. He has traveled extensively to study orchids in the wild, and is diligent in his efforts to encourage discussion about endangered plants. The results of his devotion include numerous scientific papers on orchids, deforestation, and the effects of long conversion on plant extinctions. He is a long-standing member of the conservation committee of the American Orchid Society and a member of the Orchid Specialist Group of the Species Survival Commission. Koopowitz is the author of several books on horticulture and conservation, includingOrchids and Their Conservation, and is currently editor-in-chief for theOrchid Digest. He resides in Santa Ana, California.
The horticultural history of any group of plants is really the story of a set of people who became interested in the plant and the proceeded to develop it. Why some plants are selected and worked with while others are neglected is not clear. Flower growing is a mixture of art and science, and the reason why sl'