Red Hot Poker Kniphofia x praecox
Other Common Name(s):
Other plants called Red Hot Poker:
- Phonetic Spelling
- ny-FOH-fee-uh PRAY-koks
- Description
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Torch Lily is one of the most popular of the Red Hot Poker plants. It is an erect perennial herb 2'-4' tall that clumps to 3' in diameter. This plant blooms in the summer and occasionally has a fall flush that is not as spectacular. It is a tough plant that is very easy to grow. It prefers full sun and well-drained soils. It is intolerant of wet, heavy soils. Wet soils cause rot and death in the winter. This plant is stunning in the front of a shrub border, or planted along a driveway or walkway. It can be utilized as single specimens or for mass planting in beds because of its strong, vivid, and bold colors. This plant has no serious pest or disease problems.
Quick ID Hints:
- Basal cluster of strap-like, keeled leaves with lily point
- Elongated peduncle topped with bright red to yellow flowers
- Flowers are dense, crowded, pendulous, tubular, and overlapping
- See this plant in the following landscape:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
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- Tags:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
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- Tags:
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Attributes:
- Genus:
- Kniphofia
- Family:
- Asphodelaceae
- Country Or Region Of Origin:
- Africa
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Whole Plant Traits:
- Plant Type:
- Herbaceous Perennial
- Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:
- Broadleaf Evergreen
- Habit/Form:
- Erect
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Cultural Conditions:
- Light:
- Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
- Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
- Soil Drainage:
- Good Drainage
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Flowers:
- Flower Color:
- Cream/Tan
- Gold/Yellow
- Orange
- Red/Burgundy
- White
- Flower Inflorescence:
- Raceme
- Flower Value To Gardener:
- Showy
- Flower Bloom Time:
- Summer
- Flower Description:
- Flowers are crowded, pendulous, and tubular. They can be bold red, yellow, cream to coral, orange, or white in cultivar selections. Inflorescence is a scapose raceme arising from a radial cluster of leaves. Peduncles are fleshy, thick, and erect. Rachis are densely crowded with flowers and buds, 1/5-1/4 the length of the peduncle.
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Leaves:
- Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:
- Broadleaf Evergreen
- Leaf Color:
- Green
- Leaf Arrangement:
- Alternate
- Leaf Shape:
- Linear
- Hairs Present:
- No
- Leaf Length:
- > 6 inches
- Leaf Description:
- Leaves are alternate, linear, crowded vasally, keeled, strap-like, grayish-green in color and can grow up to 35" long. Leaf margins come together into a pointed apex. Blades are sheading basally and are overlapping each other around minute stems.
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Stem:
- Stem Is Aromatic:
- No
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Landscape:
- Landscape Location:
- Pool/Hardscape
- Walkways
- Landscape Theme:
- Drought Tolerant Garden
- Design Feature:
- Border
- Mass Planting
- Specimen
- Resistance To Challenges:
- Drought
- Wind
