Topic: Growing Red hot pokers

[Garden Manager]

Can anyone tell me the best site/soil etc, to grow red hot pokers? I have tried growing them with mixed sucess for years, The best attempt (the current one) is in a generaly sunny site in the good soil the books say they need. It flowers quite well but grows rather lushly and the foliage is messy The other problem is that it has plants growing close to its base which encourages slugs and snails that tend to ead the flower stalks, making the flowers colapse. This year this hasnt been such a problem, but most years the slime devils ruin the display.

The main pllanting is a group of thre in a border and the frontmost plant flowers the best - it think it shades the others. Another clump is growing poorly close to a hedge, which I think shades it too much,

Would a sunnier site in poorer soil be better for the plants. Would it also be better not to plant too closely around the base of them to deter the slugs and snails.

What would be the best thing to do, I like these plants, but am finding growing them frustrating at the moment. Please advise.

Thanks

[Mrs Ava]

I am no expert at all Richard, but I grow the short varieties and I find the one that is in the wettest, lushes part of the garden grows to lush and the leaves flop.  Mind you, that is the one that sends up loads of flowers, and I noticed yesterday plenty of flowers coming.  The couple in the shade are smaller plants, shorted leaves, more upright, and altho they don't have as many flowers, they still have loads and look fab!  I think it is like the sedum, if it is to lush, they flop and look a mess, if treated a little bit mean, they are more perky.  I know RHP need full sun, but think where they grow naturally, thin well drained soil, baked dry during the long hot summers.....

[Garden Manager]

My front garden has dry, sun baked soil, so I could try some out there I guess. Sadly I dont know the variety I have so specific info would be difficult i suppose.

Here though is a picture, taken recently. it also gives some idea of the site I am growing it in. The photo is looking west with the most sun from the left of picture. The RHP pictured is actualy 3 plants the foremost one flowers best of all, the ones behind are mostly leaf.

Hope this helps


heres another one - looking north with the sun behind;

[Robert_Brenchley]

It looks healthy enough, but possibly a bit out of scale with its neighbours.

[Mrs Ava]

Mine must be a late flowerer as I have only just got buds showing at the base of the plant.  Don't normally see colour until August time.  Have you moved it in the last year or so?  Just wondering why it might not be as strong as you hoped.

[Garden Manager]

EJ: No I havent move it recently. its been in the same spot for about 3 years now. I am guessing they dont like being moved? Well they did move around a lot before they were put in their current home, and were divided quite a bit in the process. Perhaps now they are just setling in!

oh dear I am afraid I did a mad thing yesterday. i have another group (not the ones in flower) that is growing close to a hedge and gets quite a bit of shade. They have hardly grown since I put them in (a couple of years at least) and quite frankly are a bit of a waste of space (they have never flowered and are the same variety as the others). So yesterday i dug tham up and put them into pots, with the plan to bulk them up and plant elsewhere (in the front garden where i think they will be happier). Doing it now sounds crazy i know but I can make better use of the space now and get some summer colour int he spot, rather than wait until autumn or next spring. Well thats the theory anyway.

[rosebud]

Richard, Alan Titchmarsh said once on gardeners world that you can move anything at any time Except frost as long as you keep as much soil as possible around the plant and water it well after a move, i have also read this in Garden answers.

My eldest daughter has some massive red hot poker clumps!!! never does anything with them no not even water and they flower there socks off in full sun all day and never fed or anything. I hope this little bit of info helps Richard.

[saddad]

The are great in hot dry positions but my advice would be don't!
 ;D

[Garden Manager]

The are great in hot dry positions but my advice would be don't!
 ;D

Dont what saddad?  Move them now or grow them in hot dry positions?

Too late for the first I am afraid. I WILL be doing the second.

I wouldnt move something soil to soil at this time of year, but i have 'containerised' (potted up a soil growing plant) plants in summer before with little ill effect. I think you can look after such plants better  this way, and in time they will fill the pot with roots and can be planted out as a pot grown specimen, which should settle in quite quickly.

[tim]

Ask Wiz??

[Garden Manager]

Ask Wiz??

Ask Wiz? Who, What, Why?

Explain please.

[windygale]

Hi garden cadet, this is just three RHP plants 12yrs old-- well not this plant BUT every three yrs i split it up and replant the young ones, i double dig a hole and work in a barrow load of muck, then plant new young plants, taken from around the mother, i firm in and water well for a coulpe of week untill you can see new life showing, then stand back, hopefully GC things will turn out like this
Hope this helps
windy ;)

[flowerlady]

GG ...

I grew mine from seed!  They have taken about five years to come into FULL bloom, and I have to say they they have not had ANY special treatment  :o

I have always associated RHP's with hot and arid, inhospitable places (this is due to my African childhood).  There they flourished with absolutely no attention!

... we could also dig them up and split them whenever the need arose.

This being the case, a bit like borage really, the hotter the spot the better the blooms !! ?? !!

[Mrs Ava]

Richard, Wiz is GreenWizzard who has posted an amazing photo of her RHP on the gallery.

[Garden Manager]

Just an update: Since staring this thread asking for help with RHPs, the plants have gone from strength to strength. After the first lot of flowers went over a second and third lot were produced by the plants in behind. One of them completely orange in colour (obviously a different variety).

All this after threatening to move them! A job i am still contemplating but am reluctant now since I am not sure if this years show is a resuly of them finaly settling in to the site (in which case moving would upset them again) or just the weather this spring and early summer has suited them better (in which case it woulnt matter about moving them). Personaly i think The individual plants would be better off now growing seperately rather than all together.

Plants can be fickle things cant they?

PS: Here are some recent pictures:



General Photo of the plant - original flowers just going over, so its not the best, they look better now i have deadheaded them.



A close up of one of the pure orange flowers