Red hot pokers: I have tried buying from the usual garden centres but it is
hard to buy them in flower and to check the flower colour so I wondered if
anyone knew any varieties that are easy to get and that are BIG and have
deep coloured (red or orange) flowers. I always seem to end up with watery
washed out flowers. I was in the west of Ireland yesterday and saw some
colossal specimens in peoples front gardens (almost 2 metre tall flower
spikes) with very vivid orange and yellow flowers. I would like to get one
and do not want to sneak into someones front garden to try to dig out a
lump. If I ask the owner which variety, Irish people hate not knowing the
answer to anything (it is too unhelpful) and I will get a long chat but no
answer. Irish gardeners never know garden varieties; they always got any
given plant from Mrs Byrne up the road or sometimes her sister in Galway.
Des in Dublin