I had this photo of my clivia miniata up just a little over a week ago on a “Wordless Wednesday.”
I’m posting it again today for a different reason. As we begin to fully enter spring in the northern hemisphere, I want to remind everyone to take time to really look at flowers. (So I guess you can tell that while I am a little too young to have been a “hippie,” I definitely believe in that stopping to smell the flowers–and to look closely at them–is a good thing!)
I remember distinctly a time when I said to someone how much I loved tulips because there were so many colors held within just one flower.The person looked at me as if I had 3 heads. But I would say the same thing about this lovely clivia flower.
Of course it’s a screaming orange color at first glance. That’s what attracts our gaze. But I am willing to believe that is what attracts pollinators to this beautiful flower (in its natural habitat, of course–not in my living room!)
Once the pollinators notice, I suspect they are lured in by the other coloration. I have read that bees don’t see red very well–they see it as a muddy dark color–and that’s why hummingbirds know that red flowers will have nectar left, for example.
There are some fabulous internet videos of the way bees see color–if you’re interested, take a look!
But the yellow throat of this clivia probably shows up as screaming, shocking fuschia to a bee!
And I adore the three delicate white scallops leading to the yellow throats of each petal.
Next time you have a flowering plant in bloom, take a closer look. Who knows what you’ll see?
Gardendaze 
Clivia used to be rare, and almost always bright reddish orange. Yellow was extremely rare, but became a fad for those who wanted to brag about it. It became so popular and so common that reddish orange is now less common. Yet, those with yellow clivia still brag about it. There is so much more variety within the reddish orange, orange, yellow and almost white color range that is difficult to know what to brag about.