Red-hot pokers

Amongst the many flowers we acquired with the house are a couple of beds of red-hot pokers (Kniphofia uvaria).  Not only are they giving us a good patch of colour, at a time of year when most other flowers are not blooming but they also indicate that we are having a very mild Winter thus far.

Typically the flower heads will tolerate temperatures down to 0 degrees C but once lower than that they die.  I suspect we have had a few minor negative temperatures this Winter, but nothing too serious and it has not been at all cold since the flower heads emerged from the foliage.  Let us see what happens later this week when a number of days are forecast to be -1 or -2 in the city: we generally reckon to be a couple of degrees colder out in the sticks.

Comments

Denis Wilson said…
They will turn to mush soon enough, Martin.
But I made a similar prediction weeks ago about my Tree Dahlias, and they are still hanging in there (just).
Cheers
Denis
6 June 2010 at 19:23:00 GMT+10
Flabmeister said…
Tree Dahlias are a sore topic with me. At our previous house in Bruce ACT we had a magnificent specimen from which I provided specimens to several friends. Unfortunately I have been completely unable to get them to propagate here. Is it the soil? the temperature? have I lost the knack?
7 June 2010 at 05:44:00 GMT+10
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