6

Note: squill in background for scale, it’s around 8” now

My mom is an avid gardener and works in many gardens close to her. This plant popped up last week but she’s unsure of its genesis. She can’t inagine having planted two bulbs so close together, but maybe if it was a pair clustered together? This location is full sun with a heat-sink provided by the house foundation and stonework nearby.

Please help me get my mom an idea about this intriguing plant!

Nicolette
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  • I have no idea and shall be watching for my team mates to tell us both. It looks like a protea flower...that the plant is growing out of but the leaves are not protea. Zone 5? Protea is tropical stuff. I can hardly wait to hear what this could be. – stormy May 05 '18 at 00:19
  • The emergent “sheath” at the base does have a protea-flower quality to it! This definitely wintered over in zone 5; even allowing for the situational conditions of a micro-climate (which this spot does act as) I wouldn’t think it stretches beyond zone 6 which is still nothing close to the tropics! – Nicolette May 05 '18 at 00:41
  • Are the stems stiff and leathery? If so, my guess is a Kniphofia of some sort, probably K. uvaria, since it's (relatively) hardy to zone 5. It appears to be planted a little higher than normal. – Jurp May 05 '18 at 13:52
  • I like that! It was one I considered but I couldn’t find anything about the weird base.. but it being planted too high could explain that... I’m going to add another photo that shows the “spiral” habit which is pretty distinctive and in keeping with kniphofia now that I’m looking at loads of photos of them. Thanks!! – Nicolette May 06 '18 at 03:30
  • @Jurp Hi!Can please post it as an answer? It deserves to be a permanent one, since comments are mostly temporary. I will upvote it for sure. – Alina May 13 '18 at 09:55
  • Alina - I posted the comment as an answer, as requested. – Jurp May 16 '18 at 02:55

1 Answers1

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Are the stems stiff and leathery? If so, my guess is a Kniphofia of some sort, probably K. uvaria, since it's (relatively) hardy to zone 5. It appears to be planted a little higher than normal.

Jurp
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