Avedon here is a couple of mine that bloomed.

Mike, those look great. We were doing very well with our new ones, especially Mango Popsicle when a rabbit began chewing it up. One day we had a nice looking plant, the next something that looked like short grass. My husband had to put a chicken wire fence around it and it did produce another nice bloom, but that was it. The other two were protected by cut down pots, and didn't do anything until the pots were removed and now Papaya Popsicle has a bloom coming along which I will post in a couple of days. Red Hot Popcicle is a really nice big plant, but no blooms.

Thanks for that update Avedon. Those silly rabbits. I got a lot of them here living off the land.

Mike, the kniphofias are supposed to be rabbit resistant--it's true, the rabbits can't resist eating the plants.

That's funny. So far mine hasn't be munched on yet

Kniphofia 'Papaya Popsicle' looks good with Echinacea 'Flamenco Orange'.

Clint, beautiful picture--this is a lovely color. I wish I could grow echinacea, but all my attempts have been total flops, so I quit spending money on them and just enjoy all the pictures of people who can grow them, like you. Here is Papaya Popcicle in our garden.

All right--great day!! I just couldn't figure out why Red Hot Popcicle was such a nice big plant with no blooms. I started combing around in the foliage and discovered two bloom stalks , so perhaps next week I will have something to show.

Today was picture day for Red Hot Poker kniphofia, BUT--is this Red Hot Poker? Somehow the color doesn't look red to me, more like Papaya Popcicle. The plant itself is great, and I discovered two new stalks on Papaya, and Mango has three now. So, if there is someone like me who doesn't think this is RHPoker, please let me know. I will e-mail Flowers By The Sea with this picture and see what their opinion is, since they are the sellers.

Here's an update on the kniphofia--I called Flowers By The Sea, and told them Red Hot Popcicle was not red hot, but Papaya Popcicle instead. Kermit is so nice, he is sending me the replacement Red Hot Popcicle in mid-September.

Good for you Avedon. Looking forward to next season as your plants get more seasoned with a year under their belt in your garden.

jvdubb said:I have no trouble with kniphofias and lots of rain. But I plant mine with plenty of ammended well draining soil. They are easy perennials for me. They are pretty in bloom. But they don't bloom all summer for me. Some people report they grow aggressively. Never been my experience.

We've had a tremendous amount of rain this summer. Two of my kniphofias still look happy. One began looking yellow and all the leaves have begun to droop. I have cleaned out dead and dying leaves. It appears to be rotting from the crown. Years of compost and mulch to help deal with our usual droughts have backfired. The soil was holding water like a sponge.

Although the weather has had dried out, my kniphofia has not recovered. I've only been growing them for two years. I need advice from those with more knowledge and experience. It is limp and yellowed. Many leaves have died and parts seem to have rotted. Should I just dig the whole thing up and let the soil recover? Or does the plant still have a chance?

None of my Kniphofia are blooming this year. They need to step it up!

@Buzzbea424, did all that prepping around the plant cause the crown to be too deep ? I only had one bloom so far on my two plants

Hazelcrestmikeb said:@Buzzbea424, did all that prepping around the plant cause the crown to be too deep ? I only had one bloom so far on my two plants

That could be a possibility. If I replace it, I'll have to be more careful. I bloomed well for two years. It's possible that rainwater may have washed soil and mulch down against it and buried it too deep this year.

Okay, here is my update. This year, Mango Popsicle started out with a bang, lots of blooms. Then it rested for awhile, and I need to go out and check, I think there may be new blooms started. Papaya Popsicle has been the real star, it started later than Mango but there have been lots of blooms with more coming. We did not get Red Hot Poker last fall, finally got the replacement in June, but it has never bloomed and I am afraid we may have been sent another Papaya--will let you know when we see the bloom. I certainly hope we have Red Hot, otherwise I must call Flowers By the Sea again which I do not want to do--but I will for I want the plant I ordered.

I grew mine from seed and they do wonderful. I have tried a couple others I purchased as plants. One died after 2 years and they other blooms in September while the ones I grew from seed bloom in June. This year I thought I had lost it but there is a tiny little piece left so we will see whether it blooms I think it may be too small though.
I believe the ones I grew from seed are K. uvaria and they bloom in June here


'Nancy's Red' in September (This one doesn't seem to like it here as much)


The other one I tried was from a nursery that sold rare plants but has since closed. I remember it said they like more moisture than the regular ones and my soil is rather droughty in summer so I think it may have done it in. We get a lot of rain here usually but we have had a few very dry summers recently.

My "sick" Kniphofia has recovered. I have only grown these for a year or two. How do I best prepare them for winter? How much foliage should I trim back? Just the dead fronds or more? I'm more familiar with irises, rudbeckia, echinacea and asclepias tuberosa.