Red hot poker 'Flamenco'
Kniphofia 'Flamenco' · Asphodelaceae
Torches of tubular flowers in a mix of red, orange and yellow rise above grassy leaves for most of the summer.
- Size
- 3 ft tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 5 to 9
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Late June to late August
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Accent
A bed built around red hot poker 'Flamenco'
The planner designed this bed around red hot poker 'Flamenco' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) cottage garden in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why red hot poker 'Flamenco' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Red hot poker 'Flamenco' × 3, red
- 2 October daphne × 5, pink
- 3 Winter heath × 8, white
- 4 Garden phlox 'David' × 3, white
- 5 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 6 Avens 'Totally Tangerine' × 3, orange
- 7 Star of Persia × 5, purple
- 8 Spring starflower × 12, blue
Why this plant
- The only spires. The others are dense clusters, bells, open bowls and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only red.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 3 ft it is one of the taller plants here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to avens 'Totally Tangerine' (2½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 3 plants in one clump. A single spire is too slight to hold a place alone, so here the accent is a clump.
Why now
- In flower for 9 weeks. From late June to late August.
- Part of the bed's peak. With garden phlox 'David' and avens 'Totally Tangerine' in mid July: 3 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as a cottage garden: 23 of the 23 plants (100%), bulbs aside, stand alone or in groups of no more than five, small enough for the kinds to mingle. The flowering year starts with winter heath in late January and ends with October daphne in late October. The back corners are held by garden phlox 'David' and red hot poker 'Flamenco', the tallest plants on the plan.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 6 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where red hot poker 'Flamenco' goes in a border
At 3 ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium tall (2½ to 3 ft).
Its job: accent. An upright plant used singly, like a punctuation mark, and repeated at intervals to give the bed rhythm.
A seed strain that flowers in its first year and for longer than the old kinds. Pokers give a hot vertical that nothing else supplies. Good winter drainage is essential.
- Hot vertical accents
- Hummingbirds
- Seaside and gravel gardens
What to plant with red hot poker 'Flamenco'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Mexican feather grass: in flower together for five weeks, from late June; low enough (20 in) to stand in front of it.
- Yarrow 'Moonshine': in flower together for seven weeks, from late June.
- Russian sage: in flower together for seven weeks, from mid July.
Questions about red hot poker 'Flamenco'
Does red hot poker 'Flamenco' need sun or shade?
Red hot poker 'Flamenco' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled.
What zones does red hot poker 'Flamenco' grow in?
USDA zones 5 to 9. It is hardy to zone 5, which means it survives winter nights down to about −10 °F (−23 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does red hot poker 'Flamenco' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late June to late August. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 5 | Late June to late August |
|---|---|
| Zone 6 | Late June to late August |
| Zone 7 | Late June to mid August |
| Zone 8 | Late June to mid August |
| Zone 9 | Mid June to early August |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should red hot poker 'Flamenco' be planted?
20 in (50 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 24 in (60 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 3 ft (90 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many red hot poker 'Flamenco' plants do I need?
At 20 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 4 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 14 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one at a time, repeated along the bed at intervals; a slender one reads better as a clump of three.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
What flowers after red hot poker 'Flamenco'?
Red hot poker 'Flamenco' is over by late August. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Sedum 'Autumn Joy': from mid August to mid October, 24 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Blue mistflower: from late August to mid October, 2½ ft tall.
What does red hot poker 'Flamenco' look like in winter?
Red hot poker 'Flamenco' holds some of its leaves into winter, more in a mild year or a sheltered spot, and they look tired by March. Cut the old ones off as new growth starts.
More Kniphofia
- Red hot poker Kniphofia uvaria
- Red hot poker 'Percy's Pride' Kniphofia 'Percy's Pride'
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 3 ft (90 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 20 in (50 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium tall (2½ to 3 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Late June to late August; upright spires; red, orange, yellow
- Leaves
- Fine texture, semi-evergreen; green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 9
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Asphodelaceae
Not yet checked against an outside reference: its figures rest on general horticultural knowledge. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.