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Kniphofia bloom time

sah67 (zone 5b - NY)

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

I have a stand of Kniphofia 'Flamenco' that I planted a few years back, that I've always enjoyed for their low-maintenance nature, their ability to overwinter just fine here in upstate NY with no special protection, and their continuous re-bloom through most of the summer and into early fall if I'm fairly diligent about cutting back expired flower stalks.

What I don't like, however, is that each individual bloom is very short-lived, seemingly starting to fade almost as soon as the flower is fully "open." And this is not a plant where the expired blooms have additional appeal (at least not for me). I usually let it slide, just because the plants are constantly pushing out additional blooms, but I'm wondering if anyone else who has Kniphofia has the same experience with short-lived blooms.

Can anyone can vouch for some of the newer cultivars, like the "Popsicle" or "Pyromania" series, and the possibility of those ones having longer-lasting blooms?

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Comments (4)

rouge21_gw (CDN Z5b/6a)
4 years ago
I have a stand of Kniphofia 'Flamenco' that I planted a few years back, that I've always enjoyed for their low-maintenance nature, their ability to overwinter just fine here in upstate NY with no special protection, and their continuous re-bloom through most of the summer and into early fall if I'm fairly diligent about cutting back expired flower stalks.

I cant help 'sah' but only say that I am very envious of your success with kniphofia. I have tried on several occasions (but not lately...hmm) to have these plants overwinter with very limited success.

(Do you have any pictures to share?)
sah67 (zone 5b - NY)
Original Author
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Rouge: Here are two shots from the end of the June. The first is a more distant view of a area along our driveway with the Kniphofia, some Achillea, Alliums, the fading blooms of Penstemon strictus, Lilium and Ruellia humilis. You can see that the deer had already chomped a few of the Kniphofia flower stalks (along with the Lilium buds) at this point, but I think they clearly weren't fans, as they never sampled it again!

The second shot is a close-up of the blooms from a few days later where you can see the inflorescences already starting to fade at the bottom.

As far as overwintering success, we do have them in perhaps the best draining part of our otherwise clay-ridden property, and we leave the dead foliage on as a protective "mulch" until spring.
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its barely two weeks that each of the bulbs has to come to something. A forced bulb, such as what you've bought, can take two to three weeks after coming into light to show a flower start. You might try giving them as much sun as you can---in a south, or west exposure, and if they begin to show too much, too fast, then simply withdraw them from the light and stop watering. The daffodil can be planted in your garden after it is allowed to wilt and go brown, but will take upwards of 3 years to bloom again. The tulips, no....they have served their purpose and should be thrown away.
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I have a Bressingham Comet kniphofia that was planted in early summer in 2006. It is in my raised gravel garden in full sun. It gets no extra watering, no fertilizing, and the soil is a mix of builder's fill and one third sharp gravel. It is mulched with pebble gravel and larger rock. (My normal garden is heavy dense and often wet clay.) Growth was slow and steady, with only a few blooms the first three seasons. Year four it had 20 blooms and has continued the past two seasons with two to three dozen blooms. It starts blooming in late August to early September and blooms until a hard frost. It really puts on quite a show. What I like best about it is that it blooms (and does not bother) all the smaller rock gardeny plants & mini bulbs in the bed which mostly bloom in spring and early summer, then shrink or disappear altogether. Ir gives me a nice totally carefree fall bloomer that I never even think about until it bursts into bloom seemingly overnight.
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It only blooms once a year. cutting at base is proper.
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You have discovered the dirty secret of many Kniphofia cultivars; the bloom season can be pretty short. I would expect that 2 weeks blooming is on the low side of what you should expect, 6 weeks is more normal if the plants are getting the conditions of sun, water and nutrients they prefer. Unseasonal heat waves at time of blooming can also impact the duration, as most Kniphofias are high elevation plants from the Drakensberg Mountains that are adapted to cooler summer conditions and moist soils in summer, not our Pacific Coast summer long drought. I know of no cultivars that rebloom with deadheading, but there are cultivars that bloom over a longer season than others, and different varieties can be selected to stagger the bloom season. Kniphofia 'Winter Cheer' is a popular winter blooming cultivar here in northern California, but winter blooms probably aren't as practical with PNW winter rains and winds. I's suggest looking around you to see which cultivars do best/bloom longest in your local conditions, and stick with those.
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dbarron
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
You have to remember, the plants design is to get pollinated. When that happens, there is no more reason for the flowers...thus short lived individual blooms. They weren't genetically engineered to last forever. It is what it is.
lisanti07028
4 years ago
I view them more like peonies - one bloom time and they're done - than black-eyed susans or some other non-stop bloomer. I am psyched when they bloom., and admire the sword-like foliage the rest of the time.

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