PlantSowGrow
How to plant and care for Red Hot Poker (Kniphofia)
Kniphofia 'Royal Standard'
🌸 Flower
🔁 Perennial
Bold "pokers" of scarlet buds opening to yellow, from July to September — a favourite of bees and a hummingbird-like flash of colour.
When to plant and care for it
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Flowers
Timed for a typical UK garden (last frost mid-April). The app uses your own town's frost dates.
Growing Red Hot Poker (Kniphofia): what it needs
- Light
- Full sun · 6+ hours a day
- Watering
- Water well until established, then in dry spells
- Soil
- Well-drained soil
- Spacing
- 60 cm
- Height
- 1 m
- In pots
- Only in large containers
- Feeding
- A little general feed in spring
- Hardiness
- USDA zones 6–9
Step by step
- On planting day
Plant
Plant at the same depth as it was in its pot, 60 cm apart, and firm in.
- 0–1 days after “Plant”
Water In Well
Give a full can of water, then keep moist for the first few weeks while roots establish.
- 7–14 days after “Water In Well”
Mulch Around the Base
Spread 5 cm of compost or bark around the plant, keeping it off the stems.
Every year
- AprilSpring Tidy
Untie and pull away dead leaves.
- JulyIn Flower
Pokers in full colour.
- SeptemberTrim After Flowering
Cut the spent flower spikes to the base.
- NovemberTie Up the Leaves
Tie the leaves loosely over the crown to keep winter rain out.
