Kniphofia advice please

Hi,

Never grown these before. Do they die back for Autumn/winter?

Do they need any special care at all, or just leave them to it.

And do they spread?

Thanks

 

I only grow a couple of varieties and then in places that are a bit wild, so I tend to just leave them alone to get on with it.
Maybe a tidy up in early spring, but green leaves remain all winter.

 

Thank you, I had been thinking of them as being like crocosmia and disappearing back into the ground.

I'm planning to put them in a wild part of the garden too, so they sound like they'll be perfect for there, and I won't forget where I've put them if they keep their leaves!

 

Biggest problem I find is snails hiding in the foliage.
They then come out in force, in wet years, and ruin the leaves and especially the flowers.

I think later flowering types might be better, than the ones I have, which flower early summer.

 

Sienna, morning

I grow mainly a new breed of kniphofias but also one or two of the older sort. The new breed are dwarf and almost continuous flowering from late spring to autumn.....the "popsickles"; totally stunning plants with deliciously edible names like Mango, Papaya, Orange Vanilla, Pineapple, Lemon etc.

Mainly they are easy to look after...yes, they can die down in autumn (herbaceous) according to where you live but retain the odd green shoot in my experience. However, I suggest you put a short cane or two, preferably plus a label, before anything dies down.

Slugs and snails enjoy the flowers as they die back....their only enemy

Do you know the varieties you have? In a wild garden the taller, older, varieties would do better. A feed in spring....balanced granular or pelleted fertiliser....will see them through the growing season

 

Flamenco I think, so the old ones? Ordered online so haven't seen them yet, just preparing myself ahead of them arriving. Thanks

 

Dont know that variety but just looked it up Sienna. Looks good, tall and semi evergreen. I would say ideal for your wild garden.

 

Much as I enjoy the dwarf kniphofias.....I have several different varieties around the garden and all give a brilliant show....I will be adding what I consider to be the best of the tall pokers, viz., Tawney King. It is not just an autumn flowerer but starts in mid summer. A genuine evergreen too.
Locally it has been a fabulous plant this summer