I'm new at Hot Poker, but I grew a couple from seed and got one at the spring swap. The spring swap specimen was dry rooted and fairly abused but totally perked up when put in the ground, so I imagine they are not too particular about the way you treat them. Like daylilies, I think I would just clean up the dead leaves.

Thanks to the trader who brought the feisty knip and the sweet girl who shared the division with me on one of the last rounds!

peace, claire in sanford

I generally cut mine back to about 6" in the fall and pull off all the dead stuff to both the kinophia and the day lillies. That hasn't seemed to bother them any.

Kniphofia are so very hardy and take SOOOO much abuse, I have never had one die, they just get bigger and prettier every year. Be forewarned though -- plant them where you want them forever and you will be rewarded with flowers ever after!

I pull out the dry stalks after each one flowers and fades and that seems to stimulate them to put out more flower stalks. Around the end of October when then look a little ratty and have stopped blooming (though sometimes that is not until early December!) I chop them down with an electric hedge trimmer to about 2". If yours are small you can cut them with secateurs rather quickly. I pull out the dry dead leaves so that there is room for the new leaves to come up when the weather warms in early spring and to make them look prettier, however, they really don't care. They like to be crowded and will eventually make a foot high mound as they fight for space and push the older leaves further and further out all the while making new leaves and baby plants on the edges too.

To propagate them - it is so easy - take two shovels back to back and plunge them in the mass, stomp on each shovel shoulder alternately. You've now divided them and one or both can be dug out, soaked in water for an hour or so, then pulled apart with great strength and grunting to make lots of rooted starts. Tromp some more dirt around the part you don't want to remove, water it, and it will be just fine. Plant the new babies in the border or in gallon pots - they will like it there for several years.

And, by the way, puppyscruff, you probably got the "sad" one from me at the swap. They do NOT like to be babied and pampered, they don't even mind if you run wheelbarrows over them, or forget to water them as long as they have well drained soil and a lot of sun. I have found that they like a little more water when they bloom but prefer to be ignored in the winter and may get some rot if watered too nicely then. It is OK to let them dry out a bit after dividing so that when you plant the new clump they go "Yeah! we're home! Where's the food?", just like teenagers' do.

I like the normal sized ones for puncuation in the "mostly tall shrub" borders but have a fondness for the dwarf all-orange, or all-yellow ones. They blend better with other perennials and stay quite compact for several years. I have recommended them for new house landscaping instead of the green meatballs the builders use. But, that is another story....

Nancy the nancedar

thank you, nancy. I'll be sure to give the 'ol knip a little disrespect when i'm in the yard later...maybe a runover with the wheelbarrow or a good trampling. I'm really looking forward to those pokers in '06 and don't mean Vegas.

peace, claire in sanford

oh dear, i actually killed mine a few ago.
is this tiara-worthy?

You can have a tiara chapelhillgardener! If you killed a knip then you can claim the prize as "the most skillful at the destruction of the most hardy". Ta-Dah!

However, I'll bet you have gorgeous "whatevers" that no one else can grow here that provide bountiful fruit, foliage, and/or flowers. Seem to recall that you have Bud. lindlayana that few had ever even heard of that were so prolific you had some gigantic ones to trade at the fall swap (heh-heh-heh - now in MY garden!). So, in honor of your tiara-ship I'll be sending you some knip babies that I will defy you to kill. But, you'll have to pass the tiara on if you don't.

Nancy the nancedar

P.S. I dug up a lot of babies/teenagers, without wheelbarrow marks, so if anyone would want to trade for something they have that is prolific.....

As for the tiara-wearers that went to Niche - who is going to buy Danae racemosa so they can share with us to make our own next year? I'll go in half-sies.

And (drumroll) stepping up to the podium to receive her poet's laurel tiara for "Miss Congeniality" of the forum is nativegirl nancedar.

Yes, I definitely want that plant, nancy. They are not that expensive, are they? But slOOOOOOW.

nancedar,
i'll accept the tiara with an odd sort of pride :)
now that i've been educated as to the error of my ways by failing to run over it with a wheelbarrow, a tiller, or even trample it with my garden clogs, i will give my best maltreatment to your brutally-divided spring swap treasure :)

now off to look up the danae racemosa!
marsha

I was tempted to get the Danae while we were there but I didn't. I was also tempted to try and root my tiara ;) After looking it up on-line it sounded as if it's rather difficult to root by cuttings and also the kids were having such fun playing with it. Boy that thing stayed green forever! I'm still considering getting one. Only a little detered by it's slow growth... -Ais.

about the poet's laurel - just how slow is it? i see niche's are in 3" pots ... the plant info says it matures to 3' x 3' - wondering how long it takes to get there? not that i'm in a hurry, just curious. i'm always looking for interesting shade-loving evergreens, and this is certainly a beauty. with such slow growth, i think i'd be hesitant to take tiara or indoor arrangement cuttings :)