Where in the world are you? This is common when a plant flowers out of season.
Dries

Here is a link that might be useful: My website

Oh, I'm sorry. I'm in Southern California, near the coast. Fortunately, the problem corrected itself; the stalk finally emerged. It was odd, though. The flowers bloomed first while between the leaves, then the stalk started to rise. It just seemed backwards. Is it really out of season? It's late summer here, and I have noticed several others in the neighborhood, including ones in the ground, also in bloom.

Like your website, BTW.

They usually bloom in January/February for me. I got 2 flower stems mid september this year. I was quite surprised.

My Clivia blooms just as described by kelpmermaid. Some flowers are trapped, but the free ones are below the middle of the plant unlike the ones pictured by Dries, etc. It is in bloom now, so not out of season(?) here in Illinois and inside. Yale

Sometimes this happens when Clivia do not get a enough water. If you water them when you start to see the flower spike it should shoot up.

I had trouble with this when I first brought my clivias here to south Louisiana and brought them into my little unheated greenhouse for the winter, or before that into the house. For me at least it seems to be warm temperatures especially at night, and when I started leaving them outside with frost blankets in the coldest weather (not very cold here) it cured the problem completely.

My clivia bloomed for the first time a few days ago, and I have the same problem. The flowers don't have a stem. I live in Honolulu, and the plant is outdoors and is watered regularly. I think it's not cool enough at night, as it only gets down to about 60 degrees F. (16 degrees C.). Last night I put a couple of ice cubes on the surface of the growing medium to try to make the plant think it was cooler. Anyone have any other ideas?

Here is a link that might be useful: No stem

Clivias should be watered sparingly during summer and winter. Then - after a cool winter - they need a good soaking. That will trigger the plant to start flowering.
A bit of general fertilizer during summer.(I feed mine coffee grounds) A topping of leaf mulch during fall, and the plant will be ready again for its spring display.
Oh yes . . don't plant clivias in full sun. They like it best in the shade of a big tree.

Actually, the advice for how to treat Clivias will depend alot on where they are being grown. Here in California, they do quite well in more sun if grown near the coast where it stays cooler in summer, and even though they don't get much winter rain in habitat, they do quite well here in well drained soil with our California winter rains. They can bloom at any time of year in cooler coastal areas like San Francisco, but in more inland areas typically only bloom in late fall to early spring. They seem to love cooler mediterranean climates, which I imagine come close to the temperature range of the mountain ranges they grow in habitat, primarily in shaded ravines with seasonal creeks.

They do seem to do best with good drainage, filtered shade and protection from frost, and are not known to do well in locations that are too tropical and don't have sufficient temperature fluctuation between day and night or summer and winter; yet also prefer locations that seldom freeze.

I'd tend to agree that too short flower spikes happen more often when they bloom out of season, or are being grown too warm. I have seen regular Clivia miniata blooming all 12 months of the year in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, where temps vary little between summer and winter, and it is very seldom hot.

I think you are lucky to even get blooms on Clivia at all in Honolulu. I would have thought these would only bloom well above 4000 foot elevation in Hawaii?

Mine was not protected from frost and the leaves are now yellowish and burnt/ragged looking, does anyone know if I can cut them off? BTW, the flowers are gorgeous still!

This is my first clivia. It is in a pot outside on the patio. I have watered and fertilized as directed. I was away for 10 days and when I returned it was blooming, but with not much stem. It was unusually hot, in the 90's for 5-6 days and dry, although I did have someone watering the garden and pots. Is this normal.I hadn't expected it to bloom yet. do you think it will bloom again in spring?

Here is a link that might be useful: GardenWeb