Lady Luck is an unusually tall red hot poker, reaching 5 to 5½ feet in flower, which makes it a great way to add height without taking up much room. Chartreuse buds open to white flowers, giving each spike a cool green-and-white look instead of the usual hot colors.
It blooms from mid to late summer and packs the clump with spikes for a long show over a large mound of grassy leaves. It is hardy to zone 6, and a sheltered, well-drained spot with winter mulch helps in colder areas. Hummingbirds and bees visit, and deer and rabbits seldom bother it.
What it looks like
Very tall, slender, club-shaped flower spikes with chartreuse-green buds at the tips opening to white tubular florets below, giving a green-to-white gradient. Many spikes rise on stout, bare stems well above a very large clump of long, arching, grass-like green leaves. The plant reaches 60 to 66 inches tall in flower and 36 to 42 inches wide. At peak a crowd of pale, lime-and-white torches stands high above the foliage.
Growing it with lavender
Red hot poker likes the same full sun and sharp, lean drainage as lavender, and its upright spikes make a bold vertical contrast rising behind mounds of purple lavender in summer.
Care
Plant in full sun in well-drained soil, lean to average; it handles drought once established but will rot in soggy winter soil. Hardy in zones 6-9, and in colder spots a winter mulch and a sheltered, well-drained site help. Cut spent flower spikes at the base to encourage more blooms, and leave the foliage standing over winter, tidying it in spring.
At a glance
-
Botanical name: Kniphofia
-
Flower color: Chartreuse buds opening white
-
Foliage: Green
-
Growth habit: Very large clump of arching, grassy leaves
-
Mature size: 5 ft–66 in tall × 36–42 in wide
-
USDA hardiness zones: 6–9
-
Light: full sun
-
Bloom start: Mid-July
-
Peak bloom: Early-August
-
Bloom pattern: Long Blooming
-
Deer resistance: Moderately resistant
-
Pollinator value: Excellent
Sizes and shipping
Dormant bare-root plant, sold in boxes of 25 per variety (order in multiples of 25). Bare-root plants ship or are picked up March 1–May 31 only. They are soil-free, so they may ship to every state in that window. Dormant plants often show little or no top growth on arrival; plant or heel them in promptly.
Lavender companion · grow guide
Community Grower Report
