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Hummingbird Garden

WANTED: unusual Kniphofia seeds (Red Hot Poker)

19 years ago

Hi all,

I fell in love with my Red Hot Pokers last year when I finally got my first blooms. I have the regular yellow to orange bi-colored Kniphofia uvaria.

I am looking for solid seeds of reds ,oranges or yellow.Basically anything besides the common uvaria type.

I have plenty to offer, please check my list.

thanks ! ~stephen

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Comments (6)

Patrick888
19 years ago
Hi Stephen,

I'm on the lookout for kniphofias too (like you, any except the common yellow/orange uvaria).

I really like your garden photo...everything looks so "advanced" for early July. That shows the difference between your hot-weather summer location and our only-warmish summers...we do well to get that kind of results by early Sept!

I recognize some of what I see blooming in your photo..but a coupla questions please. Is that Salvia coccinea 'Lady in Red' in the foreground? What are the bright red cannas in the left side background? And the red/purple-leaf canna?
I circled a light colored canna (I think) in the center and something with small orange flowers behind it...can you identify both for me? Guess that's more than a couple of questions...lol...but inquiring minds, ya know?!

Great garden...congrats!

Patrick
stephenNJ
Original Author
19 years ago
Hi Patrick and thanks!
on the Garden photo :
1 yes the salvias in the foreground are 'lady in red'
2 leftside background are Robert Kemp Canna
3 the purple leaf Cannas are Skyhawks, thier blooms are similar to Robert Kemp but the are pink .I dont see blooms on this particular shot
4 the orange blooms you circled in the background are mexican Sunflowers (they get big and bushy)
5 The shorter plant you circled is Panache Canna with peachy blooms , they are also hummer attractive.
others in the photo are Great Blue Lobelias on the right,Tropicanna Canna behind them.Spiderflower in the center, some Nicotianas above them.Purple Bee Balm is twoards the left in the pic.
-I did order a very cool Kniphofia for this spring and I will save you seeds if I get any.It's a solid Flame-Orange Bloom, I forgot the name of it for the moment but I will let you know when it comes in.
-stephen
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Think there are still a couple plants in my garden. They haven't been as impressive as they were the first year or two after planting, so I haven't paid much attention. One might have died out, not sure. Looking back on my notes my plants are K. uvaria 'Flamenco', which I believe is seed mixture that comes in all colors (yellows, oranges, reds bicolors). Here is a pic of mine with Maltese Cross from a few years ago: While I do like the general look and interesting flower of Hot Pokers, I DON'T care for the fact that they have such a limited bloom time and can be a bit temperamental. So no, I wouldn't say this isn't a favorite plant of mine. I saw something interesting in a magazine awhile back about bundling up Kniphofia foliage (i.e. gathering it all together and tying) for winter. Don't think they gave much more info or explanation, but it made me wonder if perhaps this plant benefits from a well protected crown? Perhaps bundling the foliage either keeps the crown insulated or keeps the water from developing on it too much during winter? I dunno, just a thought. Might be worth a try for those who haven't had much luck over wintering them... CMK
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Patrick888
19 years ago
Thanks, Stephen, for the ID info and the offer of kniphofia seeds if you get some. Sounds great!

I'm growing 'Lady in Red' Salvia this year for the first time. I just transplanted sprouted seeds into 6-paks (used the coffee-filter-in-a-baggie method).

A gardenwebber just indicated he has some canna 'Robert Kemp' and 'Intrigue' for me...I'll be excited to add them to my collection and further please the hummers. I'll keep an eye out for 'Panache' & 'Skyhawk'.

Do the hummers like your Great Blue Lobelia? From the distance I had guessed that to be a salvia. Do you have any trouble keeping it over the winters?

Your garden will be an inspiring influence on the one I'm planning this year. I really like the screening effect it creates.

Have a great gardening year!

Patrick
stephenNJ
Original Author
19 years ago
Patrick,
The Great Blue Lobelias are very hardy and I have no problem overwintering them. They do well under the shade of the taller Canna.I would imagine thay would be ok for your zone, they like to be in a wet spot but it's not neccisary.They are US natives and hummers like them but not as much as other stuff.A very easy plant to keep!
-stephen
Patrick888
18 years ago
Hi Stephen,

Have you been acquiring any kniphofias? I recently came up with 2, other than the common uvaria. They are K. thompsonii snodenii and K. 'Alcatraz'. The plants are smallish, but I selected ones with multiple crowns that should be easily dividable by next spring. I'll attach a link for the first one...interesting flower form where the individual blooms are spaced apart along the stem rather than clusted tightly together. They seem to be sterile from what I read...or at least extremely difficult to get them to set seed, so trading divisions would be the way to go & I'd be happy to trade with you.

Patrick

Here is a link that might be useful: Kniphofia thompsonii snowdenii
stephenNJ
Original Author
18 years ago
Hi Patrick,
The only Kniphofia I accumulated was 'Shining Spectre' .A soild yellow/orange color on what appears to be a smaller plant but they are still young so I'm not sure.I planted them this spring and they sulked for a while but one actually bloomed in late spring.I will be able to collect seeds and I could send you some but they are too young to didvide.I'm not really big on trading plants in the mail, I guess I was not clear that I wanted a seed trade in the begining of the thread.
PLMK your adress and I could definitely send you some seeds.
-stephen

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