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Kniphofia uvaria 'Blaze' (Red Hot Poker) - This is a perennial that forms dense clumps of upright, finely toothed leaves to 3 feet tall and 4 feet wide. In the spring and summer, spikes of tubular flowers stand above the foliage. Flowers emerge from top to bottom and because the buds tend to be darker, the upper portion of the "torch" can be red while the bottom is yellow.
Plant in well-drained soils and give some supplemental irrigation in summer to encourage flower formation. Hardy to below 15 ° F (to around 0° F if it is mulched or the foliage is retained to protect the growth crown).
The species Kniphofia uvaria grows naturally in the Cape Province of South Africa. It was the first Kniphofia to be described and at that time was mistakenly thought to be an Aloe and was named Aloe uvaria. The name Kniphofia honors Johann Hieronymus Kniphof (1704 -1763), a German physician and botanist. The pronunciation of this genus is often argued about and while most continue to use the easiest to pronounce versions such as ny-FOE-fee-ah or nee-FOF-ee-a, others argue correctly that the name should follow the pronunciation of the name it commemorates. But even for this there are differences of opinion owing to different German regional dialects - one such pronunciation often noted as correct is nip-HOFF-ee-uh while another that is particularly hard to pronounce is k-nip-HOF-ia. Keeping it simple we still use ny-FOE-fee-ah. The specific epithet derives from an old Linnaean name for the plant as Aloe uvaria, from the Latin word 'uva' meaning "grape", in reference to the resemblance to the clusters of the fruits hanging on the stems.
Kniphofia uvaria 'Blaze' was a selection that San Marcos Growers made in 1990 from a seed crop we were growing of Kniphofia uvaria. We grew and sold this nice cultivar from 1993 until we closed the nursery in 2025.
The information displayed on this page about Kniphofia uvaria 'Blaze' is based on our research conducted about this plant from books in our nursery library as well as from information that is provided by reliable online resources. We also have included our own observations made about it as it grew in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers when we had them in our nursery field. We also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.
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