How to Grow Red-Hot Poker (Kniphofia Uvaria)

This perennial (meaning it comes back year after year) comes in combinations of yellow and cream or red and orange. Its 3-foot flower stems rise above sword-like leaves in late spring and summer.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Choosing a Red-Hot Poker

1. Look for red-hot poker plants at nurseries in spring - the best time to plant them.
2. Buy red-hot poker in 4-inch to 1-gallon containers.
3. Choose healthy-looking plants that show signs of new growth in leaves and flower stems, which arise from the center of the plant.

Planting a Red-Hot Poker

4. Plant red-hot pokers in spring in full sun in a spot with well-drained soil.
5. Add a light application of organic fertilizer to the planting hole.
6. Set the plants 2 feet apart.
7. Place the plants no deeper than they were growing in the containers.
8. Mulch around, but not on top of, the plants with 3 inches of organic compost.

Caring for a Red-Hot Poker

9. Cut off old flower stems at their base with bypass pruners to encourage more flowers.
10. Trim off old foliage in early spring with bypass pruners.
11. Add a light application of organic fertilizer to the top of the soil in early spring; follow directions on the package.
12. Mulch around, but not on top of, the plant with 3 inches of organic compost in spring.
13. Water well until soil is completely moist; do this weekly in summers with no rainfall.

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