Kniphofia 'Yellow Hammer'
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Kniphofia 'Yellow Hammer'• Click here to visit our Main Plant List page for current availability of this plant
• common names: torch lily, red-hot poker
• flowering season: early summer
• height: 3 to 4 feet
• Light requirements: full sun, half a day of sun will do
• Soil requirements: average to rich and well drained
• Water requirements: will survive in a dry landscape although it will grow better and flower more profusely with regular watering during summer
• Growth habit: grows in a clump
• How to propagate: divide in spring or early summer
• Leaf type: narrow, arching long
• Special characteristics: one of the first yellow torch lilies to begin blooming in summer
• Other points of interests: its flowers produce lots of nectar that attract both hummingbirds and various songbirds
Either 'Yellow Hammer' or 'Yellowhammer.' The flowers of this perennial are lemon yellow. It starts blooming in late May, earlier than most torch lilies. The height of its flower spikes is three to four feet. And it is not easy to find today. We got it ten or fifteen years ago through the generosity of John Whittlesey of Canyon Creek Nursery. We don't know where the name of 'Yellow Hammer' originated. It's possible that it is named for a small, yellow-breasted bird native to Europe and Asia, commonly known as a yellowhammer, Emberiza citrinella. Some songbirds (in addition to hummingbirds) enjoy drinking the nectar from the flowers of torch lilies. This bird may be one of them. USDA Zones 6 - 8 in the East, and zones 6 - 10 in the West.