Potentilla (Cinquefoils)
Potentilla: Cinquefoils, compact deciduous shrub up to 48" tall, flowers all summer, requires division to stay healthy.
| Potentilla | Deciduous Shrub |
|---|---|
| Bloom Time | All Summer |
| Light | Full Sun to Light Shade |
| Water | Moist Well Drained Soil |
| Diseases | Leaf Spot, Mildew, Rust |
| Pests | Aphids, Weevils |
| Propagation | Softwood Cuttings, Division, Seed |
| Color | Pink, Red, Orange, Yellow, White |
| Height | 3 - 4 feet tall |
| Zones | 3 - 7 |
| pH Range | 5.5 - 8.5 |
Potentilla
It is fortunate that the Potentilla only shares in name the cinquefoil, which is a nasty creeping weed all over the east coast of the US and bears no other resemblance to its namesake than that.
The Potentilla is a bushy, compact, deciduous shrub with pinnate leaves and is well behaved. They grow to a maximum height of between 3 and 4 feet and bear showy little flowers throughout the entire summer.
Flowers are saucer shaped and come in a variety of colors, yellow being most common. You will also find red, white, orange and pink on some varieties.
Native to the Rocky, Cascade and Olympic mountains, these hardy plants flower continuously from June through October with little preference to soil or water conditions.
The best method to divide Potentilla is by division in the spring, before they begin flowering. Division is a requirement of this plant to keep it healthy and strong.
Some species will come true with seed, but not all of them.
Take softwood cuttings in early summer.
Potentilla
Potentilla's are great in the shrub border. You can use a variety of color and get great looking flowers all summer long.
They do not nor will they tolerate extreme heat and are less hardy than the wild forms. If you plant them in zones 3 or 4 they will need winter protection to survive.
They need to be divided often to stay healthy and vigorous.
Potentilla
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Potentilla fruticosa 'Abbotswood': bears white flowers and blue-green foliage on a shrub that grows 3 feet tall and 4 feet wide. Zones 3-7
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Potentilla fruticosa 'Daydawn': bears soft-yellow flowers suffused with pink on a compact, 4-foot-tall-and-wide shrub. Zones 3-7
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Potentilla fruticosa 'Klondike': is a sunny presence in the garden. It combines bright green leaves and yellow flowers and grows 3 feet tall and 5 feet wide. Zones 3-7
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Potentilla fruticosa 'McKay's White': offers pristine white flowers with showy gold stamens scattered on the plant through the summer. It grows 3 feet tall and 5 feet wide. Zones 3-7
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Potentilla fruticosa 'Sunset': bears apricot blooms that lighten to yellow; the color fades in strong sun. The shrub grows 3 feet tall and wide. Zones 3-7
Fertilization techniques for the Potentilla are as follows:
Take a soil test to determine the PH of the soil. If one or more nutrients are low, use a specific fertilizer to bring up that level
Avoid fertilizing late in the growing season as application made during that time will force new growth and this new growth will not have sufficient time to harden off before the cold weather season.
Potentilla
