Kniphofia (red hot poker)

What really got me about the Kniphofia caulescens it`s the color of the leaves and the size of it , plus they build up and almost seams they have a trunk (they don`t).

 

I've just discovered that Kniphofia is quite closely related to Aloe, Haworthia etc...........

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xanthorrhoeaceae#Phylogenetic_tree

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I have got some kniphofia seeds planted at the moment in propagator. Hope they flower this year!

 

I had a red hot poker, problem is how to get rid of it
and to help my neighbours get rid of it, it is sort of spreading :-)

I dig it out and it comes back, I dug it out and the soil replaced Yep
it was back, it seeds everywhere
It does look good but I am fed up with it

Jack McH

 

Jack, Grape Hyacinths are the same. I battled with them for a few years and did manage to get rid of them. As soon as they develop flower heads cut them off and dispose of them. Dig out as many as you can too. It'll take a while but you will win eventually. Your neighbours must do the same. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait until all the seeds already in the soil have developed into plants.

I'm having the same battle now with bluebells.

 

I have three different ones but have moved them to a different sunnier spot in the garden as they have done very poorly so far ( three years.) We have very free draining sandy soil, which I thought they likes, and have added soil improver and well rotted manure.Hoping they do better now.

 

Apologies, I see this is a very old topic, but maybe somebody will add a comment about their plants.

 

Yes they should do a lot better with full sun @Oakapple . I have a few myself.

 

I used to have a large, anonymous one in the sunny border here - it did OK but I felt it wasn't really earning its keep - long-lived sprawling leaves but only a few, brief flowers. So I dug it out and in autumn 2019 got a collection of Kniphofia Popsicle plug plants instead. They are relatively small, have much more upright grass-like foliage, and also apparently a much longer flowering season. Last year they were establishing themselves so I didn't get flowers until late summer, but was pleased with them all the same - charming little plants which have continued to grow and will I think make really nice clumps this year.

There obviously are large varieties with a good long flowering season - those are a popular choice with landscapers planting up the Thames-side luxury flat developments round here. They look really good in that kind of space - both the striking flowers and the foliage sprawling over the sides of raised beds/ big containers.

 

Those smaller plants sound very good Clare, am off to google them.
What a magnificent hound btw! Love the brindle colour.I have friends who own greyhounds and I have rarely seen then upright, they seem to sleep and rest for most of the time.Most people think they are enormously active and owning them would be a chore, but they seem content to not do much, is yours the same?

 

Yes it was someone on here who recommended Popsicle to me originally - I think @ARMANDII or @shiney.

Tiger says for the compliments! He's my third retired racing greyhound, and you are right, these dogs love their beds and don't require long walks, having been bred and trained to be sprinters rather than stayers. When they're racing or in training they spend a lot of time sitting about in kennels, then brief intensive bursts of exercise. That said they can learn to enjoy longer walks in retirement, you just need to build their stamina up a bit.

 

Imagine if Tiger tried to take over the sofa!
I saw a funny ( if unhygenic) sight in the tearoom of a Cotswolds arboretum a few years ago,
We were sitting at our table when we saw a lady and her greyhound walk in and go up to the counter to order, it was very quiet and nobody else waited behind her, so she engaged in chit chat with the waitress.Whilst her coffee was being made the owner and the waitress chatted, oblivious to the hound’s long nose reaching up and giving a piled dish of scones a good going over.It was delicately done, and he didn’t take one, just gave them a thorough investigation.

 

I have kniphofia growing and spreading rapidly in full sun and sandy loam, which is a free draining, dry and hungry soil. I don't feed them and very rarely water them so my thoughts would be they prefer starvation.

 

Thanks, it seems that the important factor is full sun ( are they South African?)