Red Hot Poker, Kniphofia uvaria, also known as Torch Lily, is a perennial whose flowers can truly be deemed original. Red Hot Poker bears orange and yellow blooms on spikes that soar into the air to five feet…or in the case of the Red Hot Poker pictured at the end of this post bend simperingly to the ground prior to righting themselves and knodding upwards. Truthfully, Red Hod Poker has foliage that can get a bit tatty, but unlike my feelings towards Spiderwort, Torch Lily’s sheer exuberance wins me over (art, and gardening and plants are indeed art, is subjective to our whims). What would I do? I’d plant it in the very back of the border and let the flowers shoot like missiles to the sky. Red Hot Poker needs full sun regardless to avoid some of the flopping seen in the photo below, and still there is no guarantee the stems won’t yield to the weight. Red Hot Poker is attractive to birds (including Hummingbirds) and bees and resistant to deer.

Red Hot Poker is easy to grow, the primary danger being crown rot in winter. Thus, good drainage is absolutely essential. As an aside, most perennials die in winter due to poor drainage and not in summer from lack of water. It’s often too much water in months when the plant is not actively growing that spells doom. When planting ensure that the crown of Red Hot Poker is no more than a couple of inches under the soil surface…another truth, most new gardeners plant too deep…when in doubt go shallow (one exception that comes to mind is tomatoes, which should be planted to their necks). Regarding Red Hot Poker, you may consider cutting the foliage off in fall (not before) to help prevent winter rot.

Usual antics apply: remove spent flowers to encourage some rebloom. Divide every two or three years if you want more Red Hot Poker to share with friends and foe…in addition, flowering may decline over time with overgrown clumps. Do NOT overwater…water sparingly if at all once established.