Hi from hot and humid North Carolina. I am a new member looking for info on Red Hot Pokers. After researching them I have found out that they should flower all summer ... mine have never flowered but once a year in the spring. This year they look terrible and only had 2 flowers, many less than usual. I am in the process of checking my soil PH, but was curious about fertilizer for them? If PH is low I need lime, but if PH is OK what might they need? THanks for any help you can give me. BDV1979
Mine don't bloom all summer either. They put on a nice show in the Spring and then a small surprise every once in a while. I fertilized in the Spring... didn't seem to make much difference, to tell you the truth... Hmmm. Hope others can add some more info -- I'm afraid my input was not so helpful.
Sounds like we are all in for a surprise. I don't feel so bad but I am curious why mine are not doing as well as in the past. The plants don't look as nice this year.
mine here in romania bloom once and they are done. well, i didn't cut the stems and they are seeding now.
I used to have Red Hot Pokers here in Scotland. They only ever flowered once a year for me - usually around the end of June/beginning of July.
I think a lot of it depends on which Hardiness Zone you are in. The bloom time info given on websites covers several hardiness zones with a wide range of growing conditions. If the weather is warmer because of a mild winter they might bloom starting in May....if the weather stays warm in fall, as in the southern zones, they might bloom a second time in Sept/Oct. But the average is, they typically bloom in June/July and in the more northern zones of their hardiness range that will be all the blooming they do until next year because there is not enough warm weather left in the summer for them to set blooms again. Whereas in the more southern zones of that range they could bloom June/July and then again in Sept/Oct because of the extended period of summer-like weather.
Like Daisybeans, mine bloom real big once each year, maybe May, and then they might send up another lone flower here and there later on in the summer. It would be nice if they bloomed continuously.
well, as i think of, most plants coming out of bulbs or rhizomes bloom once. am i wrong? take the tulips, daffodils, snowdrops, gladiolas, lilies, irises.... and so are these pokers. there is nothing we can do about it. it's their cycle. i bloom once and i'm done.
This is only year two for mine. Last year, I didn't cut them back when they finished blooming, just let them die back naturally. The leaves of the plant itself never died back completely. Wondering if this is the best approach.... What do the rest of you do? Cut them back or let them die back naturally? Someone in my neighborhood has some. The flower stalks were thicker and stronger than mine. Mine were a little spindlier this year than last. I wonder what effects the strength of the flower stalks.
Sometimes I let the flowers go to seed and they'll self sow a little bit. But sometimes I see that there are no seeds forming, and I just clip it off. It is true that with reblooming plants, snipping off spent flowers helps to promote that second bloom. About the spindliness--some are just more vigorous varieties than others. I am jealous of some I've seen in a nearby town. Mine are obviously not as showy as those. You might just be in the same boat as me, but you could try spreading some fluffy compost, composted manure or good potting soil with fertilizer around your plant to give it a boost. Too, although Red Hot Poker is definitely a drought loving plant, it might improve with more water, unless you're already doing that.
i always let mine dry on the plant cause they always seem to produce seeds. i don't collect them, but i spread them hoping they'd germinate and multiply.
well, theyre just not an easygoing plant. Mine is never going well either! and finally, i give it up...
depends on where you are. mine are ok. doing fine. mine bloomed nicely and i didn't look after them at all. they got sun, and water when it rained.
