Kniphofia are pretty tolerant of a wide range of soil conditions, so not sure you can make any hard and fast assumptions as to what your specific soil may be like just based on them. They DO need good drainage however, else liable to crown rot, so that may be one reasonable assumption. There are various home tests you can do to help understand your soils. 1) Testing for soil texture 2) Percolation/drainage test 3) pH test. This does require the purchase of a home pH test kit, available at most home improvement stores and garden centers. They are quite inexpensive - around $5 or so - and perhaps the most accurate of any of the home testing kits. But be sure to use distilled water as the testing liquid - regular tap water will skew results. And I'd encourage you to rethink your priorities with regards to the soil. The soil quality is the foundation for any successful garden and any time, effort or expense you devote to it is an important investment. It is far better to spend some bucks and some time in improving your soil before you plant than to waste money on unsuccessful plantings simply because your soil quality is not adequate. Many new gardeners make this rather unfortunate and hard to correct after-the-fact mistake. Also, because of your location in a pretty arid climate, I'd look into drought tolerant/xeric plants. Once established, these will need minimal attention in terms of watering and are often happy in lean or less than fertile soils. Many of those mentioned above would work provided your soil is suitable. High Country Gardens is an excellent resource for these types of plants. Here is a link that might be useful: High Country Gardens

Hi Melissa, From my field notebooks when I was documenting the needs of R. moschata' and roses from 14 garden classes, in a local public garden; where other roses sulked in a long rosebed, that had slow drainage, where they were drenched, and the soil was saturated over a period of 1.5 months during unusually heavy rainstorms, and a small stream formed flowed through 7 rosebushes, The two plants of R. moschata thrived! and bloomed normally that year. (Devoniensis X2 clones nearly croaked, which was to be expected) The R. moschata are planted where they only receive 6 hours of sunlight. I suggest you plant R. moschata where you are in Italy, on the North side of a large building, give it 4 inches of mulch, beneath its' canopy to within a circle of 2-3 inches from the base of the canes. Plant low growing plants around it to keep the soil shaded and cool. water it so soil is often damp near the surface. I like Parma violets because they bloom in winter in California, or low growing geraniums. Best wishes, I am deeply in love with R. moschata. Luxrosa

pbl_ge, I also purchased the Snowbanks from Bluestone last year (when they still sold them in sets of 3). I bought two sets of 3. I pinched maybe 3-4 times before July 4th and by the fall the plants were beautiful, about 4 feet tall, very full and impressive. I also particularly like the foliage on the plant as it grows. The plant is airy and "branchy" (if that is even a word) and with the light blue/green color definitely sticks out in the perennial bed. And in terms of flopping, mine only flopped after we got hit with Hurricane Irene (and that was more from the wind then the rain), but they even recovered from that. I think growing them close together helps them support each other as someone else mentioned above. What I would be careful of though is your placement. Man does this plant spread rapidly. This spring I had to divide up both my Boltonia and my Woods Blue Aster I also bought from Bluestone last year. 6 Boltonia plants last year -> ~easily 30+ multi stem plants this year (all doing great after the move). I had to move them all over the yard, even made a long hedge since I was out of space. I am guessing next year I will be begging people to take some of them from my yard. Same thing with my Woods Blue. 3 plants last year -> 27 plants this year. Again all doing well and filling in nicely. Good luck!

Well the diversity of answers on this question indicate that cultural conditions have everything to do with whether or not plants need support. Sure, some always do, some virtually never, but conditions of soil type, moisture, light, and wind exposure make a big difference. In my old garden, Jacob Cline was an upright plant which did not need any support (though I am not a staker/straightjacket gardener, and gentle leaning is perfectly OK with me). At the new place, with too much moisture and shade, it definitely flops. In dryish soil, Boltonia snowbank is pretty upright for me, but with irrigation tends to flop. There just is no substitute for your own garden and conditions. And one year may be different than the next..... I personally think there are better supports for Boltonia Snowbank than any Monarda. Choosing something that has the same season of interest might be nice if you are constructing a vignette for that season. I have a stand of Sedum 'Matrona' in front of one group of Boltonia, and they look great together. Any similar sedum would do the job, and the cultural conditions are similar. Grasses of almost any type are excellent supports for floppy neighbors. Pennisetums of any type are a good size for the taller asters. I love Boltonia 'Pink Beauty', but it is even much worse as a flopper than its white cousin. I have grown that wonderful floppy plant through Calamagrostis arundinacea brachytricha, and its shimmering lavendar blooms looked great with the mauvey inflorescences of the grass. Another great scaffold plant is Molinia 'Transparent' or 'Windspiel'. The pink boltonia flowers were displayed throughout the tall flowers of the Molinia, looking like a display of fireworks. Another great support for floppy Boltonias is one of the shorter shrubby asters. I really like Aster oblongifolius and its cultivars for this (October skies, Raydon's favorite). It is shrubby like a boxwood, and will provide contrasting color and similar season of bloom.