Red Hot Poker stokes my fire.

Kniphofia - Red Hot Poker - (Kniphofia Hybrid Cultivar)

There are nearly 70 species in this genus (Asphodelaceae). They are South African clump forming perennials that increase in size each year.

 

They are grown for their spikes of intensely coloured, usually red-orange-yellow flowers. Flowering from Autumn to Spring they have provided the nursery with some vivid colour for the last month or so. There the sorts of flowers that stop people in their tracks to get a real good glance.

They are generally very hardy, being sun tolerant but not really liking frost, particularly when first planted. Plant in moist, humus rich well drained soil. Water and feed well during the growth period. Most varieties will tolerate salt winds and thrive near the coast. Propagation can be performed by division.

Comments

[Shelley hopkinson]

How do you encourage flowering, can you feed them? I have cut the spent flowers off the ones which have already flowered, but i want to know how to get them to flower again this spring>
Can you help me

[James]

Shelley,

I think that the effort this plant puts into this one big amazing flush of bright bulbous colour, means that convincing it to flower again is pushing it beyond its natural capabilities. Enjoy it while you can, cut off the dead flowerheads and consider that no amount of potassium enriched fertilser is gonna get another decent flush from it for this year.