| Looking for information on a plant in my bed, which I think is called a red hot poker. I cannot find information about it. It was beautiful only 1 season and I would like to find out why. |
| Red Hot poker is Kniphofia, a plant that requires hot summer sun and dry, well draining soils. It's perfect for an arid rock garden type setting. If your plant isn't performing well, perhaps it's not getting the heat it requires. After flowers fade, trim off the flower stalk near the base. Then leave the foliage alone so it can continue growing and replenish the plant. In the fall when the foliage finally dies back after frost, trim it off. Some years the foliage looks good all through late fall, so I leave it until it looks ratty the following spring and then remove it. The main point of leaving the foliage throughout the growing season is to promote plant health and vigor and allow the plant to build strength to come back bigger and better the following year! Hope this clarifies things for you! |
