 Kniphofia 'Robin Hood' $10.95
- common names: torch lily, red-hot poker
- flowering season: early summer
- height: 2½ feet
- Light requirements: full sun, half a day of sun will do
- Soil requirements: average to rich and well drained
- Water requirments: will survive in a dry landscape although it will grow better and flower more profusely with weekly deep watering during summer
- Growth habit: a slowly widening clump
- How to propagate: divide in spring or early summer
- Leaf type: narrow and moderately long
- Ways to use it: grows well with other flowering perennials in the sunny garden; grows well in a large pot on a terrace or deck where it will attract hummingbirds up close to you house
- Special characteristics: its upright, spiky flowers have lots of character and are a focal point among other flowering plants, especially contrasting nicely with mounding and cushion shaped perennials; it doesn't need much care once planted other than regular watering; gardeners in climates colder than USDA Zone 6 should give it winter protection such as covering with a mulch or a large basket turned upside down and weighed down with a large rock on top
- Other points of interests: its flowers produce lots of nectar that attracts both hummingbirds and various songbirds that will cling to the stems to sip the nectar
'Robin Hood' was available several decades ago in America, and is scarcely seen today. It is not the best red. Other red torch lilies are better shaped and have clearer colors. One reason to offer it is that it will likely survive colder winters than some of the prettier ones. Another reason is that it starts to bloom earlier in the summer than the other reds. A third reason to offer it is to keep it from disappearing altogether. In colder regions of the country, planting any of these torch lilies is best done in spring instead of in autumn, to give the plants a summer to fully establish themselves before having to face winter. USDA Zones 5 - 9, and to zone 10 in the West. |
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