Diane, The rule of thumb is that it takes 12 leaves to bloom. I'd say, that means 12 after the first 2 or 3 small seedling leaves have been shed. You can force grow clivia seedlings to flowering size by not putting them in a cold, dry environment over winter. The fastest time I've had is 30 months from seed to first flower for a common orange miniata and 5 years for a nobilis. Regards, Jim Shields in central Indiana At 11:25 AM 2/18/2005 -0800, you wrote: >My mature clivia growing under a giant fig in my cold greenhouse is blooming. > >Last year and this I bought seed from Silverhill and would like to know >when I can expect flowers. Does there need to be a certain number of >leaves in the clump first? > >-- >Diane Whitehead Victoria, British Columbia, Canada >maritime zone 8 >cool mediterranean climate (dry summer, rainy winter - 68 cm annually) >sandy soil >_______________________________________________ >pbs mailing list >pbs@lists.ibiblio.org >http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php ************************************************* Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 Shields Gardens, Ltd. P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/ Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA Tel. ++1-317-867-3344 or toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA