Kniphofia 'Ice Queen'
Kniphofia 'Ice Queen'• Click here to visit our Main Plant List page for current availability of this plant
• common names: torch lily, red-hot poker
• flowering season: August and September
• height: 3 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
One of my favorites, Kniphofia 'Ice Queen' has large white torches that are lime green when first opening, on stems of three feet, showing for us in late summer into fall. It may flower earlier in the summer for you because many of the late-summer torchlilies will often flower earlier where summers are warm. Although large sized, it grows more slowly than others. In late summer and fall when there are so many warm colors, this cool white and lime is arresting. With this torchlily, its flower stems may grow taller than three feet the first year or two after planting, especially if you plant it in rich soil. After a plant becomes well established in a year or two its flower stems will settle into a height of three feet. USDA Zones 6 - 10.