Kniphofia
‘Lye End’
at Digging Dog

Kniphofia

Torch Lily or Red Hot Poker

“Red Hot Poker” is the local nickname for these bold, handsome natives of Madagascar and tropical South Africa. Brought to England in 1707, they were kept as greenhouse treasures until 1848, when someone had the bright idea of planting them outdoors, and their abiding hardiness was discovered.

The old-fashioned orange and yellow form has survived years of neglect in abandoned gardens here on the coast; the new hybrids and species we offer, in versatile creamy yellows, chartreuses, soft melons and bolder colors, are more suitable to modern schemes, but are just as hardy and reliable. The thick, almost succulent leaf blades are evergreen, and of interest even when the cylindrical flower spikes are absent. Heat and drought tolerant.

Kniphofia ‘Lye End’ 

This toasty-hued, perky cultivar first caught our eye at Cotswald Garden Flowers, owned by Bob Brown, England’s renown Kniphofia enthusiast. It has since become one of our favorites for its long and slender, loosely set racemes. Tipped with burnt coral tones, the blooms fade to melon in the middle and finally brighten to a creamy yellowish sherbet base, which features larger, more pendant florets. The colorful splendor bursts forth from earthy red and greenish-tinged buds elevated on supple, slightly bronzed stems above green foliage.

Blooms July–August.

Size: 3' high x 2' wide; hardy to zone 7.

AVAILABLE FALL 2008

Kniphofia Lye End (P-1273)
Each $10.00
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