Cormaic's Garden - Plants - Red Hot Pokers

Garden Layout - Plants - Kniphofia
I've always associated Red Hot Pokers with cottage gardens, and so I picked up this variety at an end of season sale a few years back. It's full title is Kniphofia Royal Castle and it is one of the more usual varieties available. I have to admit to being a little disappointed with its relatively short flowering period and the amount of space it occupies. It flowers in June, but each head lasts only for a week or so.	Red Hot Poker

Kniphofia Royal Castle	It throws up 5 or 6 flowers heads, each about a metre tall, from its base of thin, strap-like leaves. The top of the head is vivid orange-red, with a pale yellow hue to the lower part of the head. The yellow colouration travels up the head as each individual flower ripens and is pollinated, and a week after first flowering, the show is over and the seed pods start to form.

I have tried to encourage a second flush of flowers by dead-heading the first show, but it's not worked for me yet. Many of the leaves die over the winter and are best removed to keep the plant tidy. It does spread, albeit slowly, and I'm hoping to split the plant this winter to provide new plants for friends and family.