Knifophias - Red Hot Pokers
Red Hot Pokers
Those quintessential country fence-line perennial clumpers, Knifophias (Red Hot Pokers), have long been on my garden's 'Perhaps Not' list. Too coarse, too rudely orange perhaps? Well, well - I've finally seen the light.
Back in the days when I read English garden books and took notice of them, I bought some cute little creamy lime-green Knifophia hybrids. They were tiny, and highly prized. I planted them on the border's edge in the sun, and waited a long time to be wowed by their delicate beauty. Hmm...
Miniature Knifophias may shine in the gloom of an English summer. Alas - in the glare of New Zealand's sunny brightness they just look silly and unsubstantial. Our sun is different - honestly! No smog, no haze...
Remembering how bright and sunny the species looked when planted en masse, I decided to go coarse and country. I bought a pot of Kniphofia which promised to be a proper 'Red Hot Poker'. No stylish subtlety, nothing miniature - this was the real blazing orange-red deal.
Summer Daisies and Red Hot Pokers
Misunderstanding its need for sun, I moved it twice. It still barely flowered - just one floppy flower head, which the lawnmower managed to catch. Hopeless.
Yellow Kniphofia
My Happiest Mistake...
Bargain bins at nursery sales can be tricky things, with large pots of no-name plants often on offer for a dollar or two. And I am, after all, the gardener who excitedly bought Red Currant bushes, thinking they were Philadelphus, and planted them in the shade of a shrubbery.
So it was easy for me to mistake a pot of Knifophias for daylilies. I planted them innocently in the full sun by the water race. Hee hee.
It was one of my happiest mistakes - the deep one-colour orange flowers appear in mid-summer, and they are absolutely gorgeous. And what's more - it's not hard to trim the old foliage in winter. What a stunning, rich colour!
Golden Hot Pokers
So now I've become a noisy fan of these reddest, hottest 'Pokers'. And I've branched out even more. Clumps of big, bright, golden Knifophias grow near my house along a country road-side ditch. A friend took a sneaky slice and gave me a piece. This summer it flowered for the first time. Please clump out for me - be as clumpy as you like. My Golden Hot Pokers are just as gorgeous as the Red ones.
