Red-hot Pokers

With their upright stems and sizzling colours, red-hot pokers are wonderful garden perennials flowering in summer and autumn. Anne Swithinbank reveals her favourites

- Anne Swithinbank

RED-HOT pokers, or torch lilies, have long been relied upon to bring a touch of the exotic to our gardens. Probably most familiar is the tall Kniphofia rooperi, towering head and shoulders above other plants from early to late autumn. Classic poker-like flower spikes are tipped by orange buds, smouldering over yellow flowers. Other classics include summer-flowering K. ‘Bees’ Sunset’ and K. ‘Percy’s Pride’, a medium-sized yellow-flowered poker.

The 70 species of kniphofia originate from southern and tropical Africa and have given rise to numerous cultivars. Between them, they bloom from early spring to late autumn and vary in height from 8in-6ft (20cm-1.8m). Some are frost tender, but there are plenty hardy enough for colder gardens.

Longer flowering season

Their narrow leaves can be bulky at ground level but recent breeding has concentrated on neater foliage, reduced height, and longer flowering seasons. A natural upland habitat is reflected in their love of the sun and good drainage, yet pokers thrive in fertile soils and love a well-drained improved soil in winter.

The best time for planting is from mid-spring to summer and should clump need moving or dividing, do this in spring. Pokers can be deciduous or evergreen but don’t rush to tidy their foliage in autumn, as this old-growth helps protect the crown from cold and wet. Remove dead leaves in spring.

Evergreen and deciduous