Kniphofia uvaria Malibu Yellow at Digging Dog Nursery |

Kniphofia uvaria
‘Malibu Yellow’
at Digging Dog

Torch Lily or Red Hot Poker

“Red Hot Poker” is the local nickname for these bold, handsome natives of Madagascar and tropical South Africa. Brought to England in 1707, they were kept as greenhouse treasures until 1848, when someone had the bright idea of planting them outdoors, and their abiding hardiness was discovered.

The old-fashioned orange and yellow form has survived years of neglect in abandoned gardens here on the coast; the new hybrids and species we offer, in versatile creamy yellows, chartreuses, soft melons and bolder colors, are more suitable to modern schemes, but are just as hardy and reliable. The thick, almost succulent leaf blades are evergreen, and of interest even when the cylindrical flower spikes are absent. Heat and drought tolerant.

Kniphofia uvaria ‘Malibu Yellow’

Shouldered by thick green stalks, the richly colored, bright yellow blooms combine with this Kniphofia’s robust stature to bestow a grandiose presence in the border. Composed of large, pendulous, evenly spaced florets that open from grassy green buds, the ample-sized torches radiate unforgettable, look-at-me, sunlit chroma, while topping sprightly green, strapping blades.

Blooms May–July.

Size: 3' high x 2' wide; hardy to zone 7.