How to add red-hot poker to your garden

When you want strong lines and fiery colour, reach for red-hot poker. This plant has straight, sturdy, three to four foot flower stems jutting from grass-like foliage. The unique flower spikes are composed of slender, tubular, one-inch-long blossoms. Adding this dramatic flower to your garden is easy when follow the simple tips below.

Red-hot pokers feature a variety of blooms. The lower ones are creamy yellow, while those at the tip are scarlet to orange, a combination that creates the illusion of a poker just pulled from the fire.

• To get an exciting performance, plant red-hot poker in sun and well-drained, organically rich soil.
• Make sure that the soil never dries out, particularly when flowers are poised to bloom.
• There is no need to pamper this resilient, care-free plant.
• Though dramatic, red-hot pokers blend right into a perennial garden.
• They combine well with everything from white foxgloves and yellow coreopsis to lavender catmint or purple verbena.

The shocking flower shades are fun, but red-hot pokers are also available in softer colours.

• 'Primrose Beauty' is a mellow yellow.
• 'Ada' is tawny gold.
• 'Buttercup' has green buds that open to clear yellow.
• 'Vanilla' is creamy white.
• 'Little Maid' is creamy white as well, but with longer spikes on a 60-centimetre-tall (25-inch-tall) plant.
• Reliably hardy, reblooming red-hot pokers are also available: try orange-red 'Alcazar', coral 'Earliest of All' and 'Royal Standard', which has yellow and vermilion flowers.

• In areas with long, hot summers, site red-hot pokers where they get some afternoon sun.
• In moderate climates, let red-hot pokers bake in the sun.
• If the ground dries as the season progresses, apply an eight centimetre (three inch) layer of organic mulch, or water as needed, to keep the soil barely moist.
• Good drainage is especially critical in the winter. Red-hot pokers subjected to sodden winter soil will fail.
• Plants need a little help to survive the winter in cold climates. Mulch with hay or leaves snuggled close to the stem.
• Rather than cutting the foliage back in fall, leave it intact and tie it together to protect the central crown from collected water and ice damage.
• Although red-hot pokers become hefty plants, be patient. New plants grow slowly, and the flower spectacle won't occur until the second or even third season.
• Nudge plants along with an application of a balanced fertilizer or compost each spring.
• Red-hot pokers resent dividing.
• To increase your supply, dig small divisions from the outside of the clump in spring, being careful not to damage roots.
• Plant divisions at the same depth at which the parent plant grows.
• This is a plant that's virtually free of pests and diseases. Even deer will nibble it only if desperately hungry.

Attributes: Red, orange or yellow flower spikes; grassy leaves; for beds, accents

Season of interest: Spring to fall

Favourites: 'Primrose Beauty', 'Ada', 'Vanilla', 'Little Maid' for colour; 'Royal Standard', 'Alcazar' for reblooming

Quirks: Slow to establish, mulch first winter

Good neighbours: Catmint, coreopsis, foxglove, verbena

Where it grows best: Sun and organically rich, well-drained soil

Potential problems: Roots may rot in wet soil; thrips may mottle foliage

Renewing plants: Lives six years or more; plants resent division

Critter resistance: Good

Source: Bedding plants, small divisions

Dimensions: 0.6-1.2 m (2-4 ft) tall, 60 cm (25 in) wide