Red Hot Poker

Red Hot Poker
Kniphofia ‘Fire Glow’
(nip-HOFF-ee-uh)
Synonym: Torch Lily

Torch Lily

Torch Lily
Kniphofia ‘Coolnip’
(nip-HOFF-ee-uh)
Synonyms: Red Hot Poker, Tritoma

On Sunday morning I decided to visit Wave Hill Gardens in the Bronx. The gardens were in good shape and there was a plethora of botanical treats to be had. This Torch Lily really stood out as very different. The color scheme and the size of the flower were distinctive. After reading up on it when I got home I learned it was introduced in 2005 by Seneca Hills Perennials and Ginny Hunt. The garden tour only lasted a couple of hours but was worth the drive.

Here is a link to Seneca Hill’s Kniphofia page:
Link

Kniphofia has been featured on this site several times (use the labels if you want to see those pictures). It is an easy and beautiful flower to take a picture of.

This weekend has been all about backing up our computers. The new 1TB (1024 gigabytes) Maxtor Central Axis has been getting a work out. It runs through the router and is available to all the computers on the network. It was pretty much plug and play and started working right away, thankfully. I was happy to see that the price I paid at Staples a couple of weeks ago was about $50 lower than the website price for the drive. Sometimes it pays to visit your local brick and mortar store.

The backup plan consists of two external hard drives and DVDs. I can’t stress it enough to photographers that you need to back up your stuff regularly. Take it from someone who has felt the pain of losing information and photos.

Torch Lily

Torch Lily
Kniphofia uvaria
(nip-HOFF-ee-uh) (oo-VAR-ee-uh)
Synonyms: Red Hot Poker, Tritoma

These were my favorite flowers I photographed while in California. Not because they are the most beautiful or the most technically proficient but more of the location and how I came upon them. While driving around, a little lost, over Sonoma Mountain I came to a sharp downhill curve and there they were. A nice little stand of Kniphofia in the middle of nowhere. The early morning sunshine was illuminating them nicely.


The genus Kniphofia is named for the German Professor of Medicine and botanist at Erfurt University, Johann Hieronymus Kniphof (1704-1763). This flower has been featured on this site before so if you’re interested click the label at the bottom of this post.

Definitely going to try and get a few pictures today. I can’t really decide where to go but will figure out something once I start driving.

Red Hot Poker Plant

Red Hot Poker
Kniphofia 'Alcazar'
Synonyms: Torch Flower, Torch Lily

The Torch Lilies have been catching my eye more and more. This picture is from the NYBG. There was a beautiful little yellow flowering one at the small farm this year. That was surprising, as that garden is a wind swept icebox in the winter. I have always shied away from trying to grow these because I thought they were not reliably hardy. Not so sure now, but if I try them it will be one of the warmer places in the garden in a well drained spot. Maybe trying some of the new cultivars is way to go. I have seen some nifty ones.

Since this is mainly an African plant here is a link to Plant Za Africa for more information on Kniphofias. It is a nice website. They have an archive if South African garden magazines that is fascinating to me.


Both of these pictures were shot with the same lens, a Sigma 24mm/1.8. I am enjoying the macro feature and then standing back to take a nice group shot. It seems with the 60mm I would have been several more feet away from the group of flowers.

Red Hot Poker
Kniphofia 'Bressingham Comet'
(nip-HOFF-ee-uh)

This was blooming in the wild garden at Wave Hill. It has a different look from most of the other Kniphofias. It seemed a little more refined and certainly the color was fantastic. I have never really figured out if this plant is hardy in Connecticut. I guess they need a little extra protection. I haven’t tried growing it here but after reading up on it for this piece I think I should give it a try. The Wild Garden (I don’t know if that is its official name) at Wave Hill is something that every gardener should see. It is such a mixture of continually changing colors and textures and some how they all go together very nicely. It is more like a home type of garden but with wonderful and more exciting plants.

The cultural information I looked up for Kniphofia states that it likes a moist and rich humus laden soil but can grow in dry average soil, also. It is best planted with some protection against wind. Several sources said that it is best to leave the established clumps undisturbed. This particular Kniphofia was introduced by Bressingham Blooms of the UK. It is a more compact growing and more has more oval-shaped flowers. There are more than 70 species in the genus, which is native to Africa.