Proven Winners - Pyromania™ 'Hot and Cold' - Red Hot Poker. If zone 5b or 6, provide winter protection with mulch or leaves. Trim leaves in spring to stimulate healthy, new growth. Pyromania ™ 'Backdraft' Red Hot Poker Kniphofia hybrid. Red Hot Poker. Watering: Although established red hot poker plants can withstand dry periods in summer, lack of adequate watering will cause the flowering to be decreased. Provide red hot poker plants with 1 inch of water every week during hot summers. Make sure the water saturates the soil 5 to 6 inches deep each time, but let the soil dry out between waterings.
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Anyone who has ever bought a lipstick knows that red comes in many shades. The same is true in the plant world, but, whether burgundy or scarlet, a touch of red lights a spark in any garden. Shrubs, perennials and annual flowers help you keep a red thread in your landscape for the long Mediterranean-climate growing season. Add a little red to bring a lot of life to your plantings.
Color in Landscape
Several different strategies let you create both excitement and continuity by maintaining a particular color in your garden. One strategy resembles that of decorating a room: select a main color for your scheme, along with one or more accent colors. Choosing red as a main color might mean massing tulips in early spring, with summer-blooming shrub fuchsia and plumleaf azalea, and a front-walk border of annual red salvia. To accent with white, plant white shrub roses under the fuchsia and edge the salvia border with dusty miller. Alternatively, red zinnias and dahlias accent an all-white or white-pink garden scheme. Another strategy is to create color corners in your garden: a series of red-yellow-orange hues around the patio; a blue shade garden; and a grass garden in tones of green, beige, brown and dark red. Within the area, plants change with the seasons, but the color spectrum remains constant. However you decide to use red in your garden, you have lots of plant choices. Red annuals and roses are readily available, but shrubs and perennials offer many less-familiar selections. Expect wildlife attention when you add red to your garden: hummingbirds, butterflies and beneficial pollinators love red, too.
Red-Flowered Shrubs
A mid-sized, rounded shrub with a lingering spicy fragrance, Carolina allspice (Calycanthus floridus), also known as sweetshrub or strawberry bush, produces an abundance of scented dark red flowers, usually in May/June. Expect a mature height of 6 to 9 feet, in well-drained organically-rich soil with full to partial sun. Shrub fuchsia (Fuchsia magellinica) is a reliable summer-long bloomer in similar conditions but can grow 10 feet high and wide. Bicolor fuchsia flowers combine red, pink, purple and white, depending on variety. Flowering from summer through fall, plumleaf azalea (Rhododendron prunifolium) is a heat-tolerant large shrub with bright red flowers. Plumleaf azalea grows in full or partial sun. Allow for a mature height of 15 to 30 feet.
Red-Flowered Shrubs for Sandy Soil
Red-flowered shrubs for dry, hot sites originate in Australia and the American Southwest. Favoring pH neutral to slightly-alkaline conditions, Southwest-native Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) is a 15- to 30-foot, multi-stemmed shrub whose cylindrical red flowers appear after rain and attract hummingbirds. A good choice for xeric landscaping, this desert plant blooms intermittently in spring, summer and fall. Pincushion hakea (Hakea laurina) is a member of the ancient Protea plant family and favors low-moisture, low-phosphorus soil. Like some other Australian shrubs, hakea roots draw moisture well from a thick layer of mulch. Abundant red blooms appear from early fall through winter, an unusual but welcome source of cut flowers.
Other Red Shrubs
Another way to bring red into the landscape is through shrub foliage and bark. Folthergilla x intermedia 'Mt. Airy' is a mid-sized shrub with red-orange fall foliage. Red-twig dogwood (Cornus sanguinea) displays bark ranging from crimson to burgundy, fall to spring; 'Midwinter Fire' is a bright-hued variety. Weigelias (Weigelia spp.), ninebarks (Physocarpus spp.) and barberry (Berberis) are among shrubs well known for burgundy-to-purple leaves, and Chinese fringe-flower (Loropetalum chinensis) 'Crimson Fire' and 'EverRed' pair dark burgundy foliage with starburst-shaped red flowers.
Small Shrubs and Bushes
As a small-yard focal point or large-planter specimen, a shrub with red flowers makes an arresting statement. A summer favorite, Hibiscus (H. spp.) is hardy to U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 9 and 10 in both tender and hardy perennial forms. Tropical, tender hibiscus grows several feet tall; red, pink, salmon or yellow flowers appear all summer. Container-grown, tropical hibiscus can be brought in when temperatures go into the 40s and below. Hardy hibiscus reaches heights of 3 to 6 feet; the name of one species, Hibiscus coccineus, is based on its red flowers. Dwarf crepe myrtle 'Cherry Dazzle' (Lagearstroemia Gamed I) and dwarf oleander 'Little Red' (Nerium oleander) are popular small versions of traditional warm-summer favorite shrubs.
Red-Flowered Perennials
Perennial choices for flowerbeds include several American native plants. Bee balm (Monarda didyma), cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) and blanket flower (Gaillardia spp.) bring intense deep and bright reds in USDA plant hardiness zones 4 to 9. Blanket flower grows in summer-blooming clumps reaching 1 to 2 feet high, while mid-to-late-summer blooming bee balm and cardinal flower spread in clusters 3 to 4 feet tall. All three are excellent components of a hummingbird or butterfly garden and do best in humus soil, although blanket flower tolerates dry soil. Dryer gardens benefit from the durability of scarlet or Texas sage (Salvia coccinea), which sends forth 10-inch flower spikes, and red-hot-poker plant (Knipfolia spp.), sometimes called 'torch lily,' which favors sandy soil and sends forth distinctive flower spears in a red/orange/yellow/white spectrum. Add red accents to a dry grass garden with native scarlet flax (Linum rubrum), a hardy, re-seeding annual that grows 1 to 2 feet tall and tolerates both heat and drought.
References (6)
About the Author
Janet Beal has written for various websites, covering a variety of topics, including gardening, home, child development and cultural issues. Her work has appeared on early childhood education and consumer education websites. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English from Harvard University and a Master of Science in early childhood education from the College of New Rochelle.
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- Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
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Kniphofia, also known as red hot poker or torch lily, makes a startling display in a garden, with flower spikes in cream, orange, red and yellow. Depending upon the species, the flower stems range in height from 24 inches to more than 6 feet. A native of South Africa, Madagascar and Yemen, this perennial grows in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zone 5 to 10. Easy-to-grow kniphofia tolerates most soils, although it prefers a rich, moist, well-draining soil. Fertilizing red hot poker increases the appearance and profusion of blooms.
Where To Buy Red Hot Poker
1
Enrich the garden soil two months before planting red hot poker. Spread 2 inches of well-rotted compost or manure over the top of the garden and till it in to a depth of 6 to 8 inches.
2
Feed kniphofia after the flower has settled into the garden and shows signs of growth. Apply a complete plant food -- either liquid or granules -- in spring. Repeat monthly if the plant food is not slow released.
3
Apply a 2-inch layer of fresh mulch around the base of the red hot poker plant in fall, after the flowers fade. The mulch enriches the soil during winter.
4
Feed the plant at the beginning of the next season. Apply a complete plant food when the kniphofia begins actively growing.
Things You Will Need
- Well-rotted compost or manure
- Shovel
- Garden tiller
- Complete plant food
- Mulch
Warning
- Keep all chemicals, such as plant food, out of the reach of children and animals.
References (3)
- The Complete Garden Flower Book; Catie Ziller
- Burpee Complete Gardener; Barbara W. Ellis
Resources (3)
About the Author
After attending Hardin Simmons University, Kay Dean finished her formal education with the Institute of Children's Literature. Since 1995, Dean has written for such publications as 'PB&J,' Disney’s 'Family Fun,' 'ParentLife,' 'Living With Teenagers' and Thomas Nelson’s NY Times bestselling 'Resolve.' An avid gardener for 25 years, her experience includes organic food gardening, ornamental plants, shrubs and trees, with a special love for roses.
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