----- Original Message ---- From: Terry Hernstrom gardenersview@adelphia.net Sometimes Clivias in my garden behave the same way. The stems don't elongate and the blooms open deep inside the foliage. The next flowering season the flowering is normal. This may happen to only one plant and all the other plants in close proximity can bloom normal. Strange?? Strange, yes; unusual, no. My Clivias behaved the exact same way. For a while I thought it was insufficient water, but that wasn't the case. Crowding in the pot; bad genes? Who knows. But I hate when there is a stubby inflorescence is all squashed deep between the leaves. Fortunately, the plant will also produce other scapes of proper length, with flowers held above the leaves, at the same time.