ShrubsDiscover the right shrubs for your garden.
Happy Face ® Yellow genus Potentilla . photograph by Proven winner
Potentilla , also called shrubby cinquefoil or bush cinquefoil , is one of the most popular landscape painting bush . It is evaluate for its long bloom time , olympian hardiness , and carefree nature . liberal of a wide range of uprise conditions , this sturdy plant stands up to drouth , air befoulment , and salt strain , making it ideal for urban environs and beachfront positioning . Despite its toughness and reliability , potentillaisn’t suited to southern regions with red-hot , humid summer .
A versatile addition to any landscape , potentilla shrubs can be used as hedging , massed along a slope , as a specimen in a miscellaneous border or rock garden , and in containers . It ’s also a good choice for firescaping and wearing mastery . The flowers are an of import intellectual nourishment germ for butterfly and cross-pollinate insects .
On this page : The Basics|Planting Potentilla|Care Tips|How to Choose the veracious Potentilla|Potentilla Varieties|Landscaping Tips
THE BASICS
Zones:
2 - 8
Height/Spread:
Varieties from 3 inch to 4 foot tall , and 6 inches to 5 feet extensive .
Exposure:
Full Lord’s Day to partial shade . Plants will flower best with at least 6 hours of full sun . Some good afternoon shade in warmer climates will avail keep plants blooming longer and the flush from fading .
Bloom time:
fountain to go down
Color and characteristics:
The saucer - shaped flush come in shades of lily-white , yellow , pinkish , orange or ruddy . Flowers are usually single , but can also be semi - double or threefold . Foliage is finely textured , bright to benighted green , with palm-shaped folio ¾ of an in to 4 inches long that have 3 to 15 fingerlike leaflets . Fruit is inedible and somewhat ironic — resembling strawberry — hence dub “ bare strawberry . ” declination colour is undistinguished on most mixture .
Toxicity:
Potentilla is an herbaceous plant whose flowers and leaves are used as instinctive remedies for abdomen perturbation or ignition . It is not known to be harmful to children or pets .
Background:
A member of the rose family , potentilla is native throughout the Northern Hemisphere , found growing in mountain or meadow home ground . There are 500 species , including shrubs and perennial , with a small part being one-year or two-year . Shrubby five-finger ( Potentilla fruticosa ) is a pocket-size - to - medium - sized deciduous bush most often used by landscapers and habitation nurseryman , though perennial and groundcover types are also available . The common name cinquefoil , think of “ five leaves , ” bring up to the five leaflet found on many varieties .
PLANTING POTENTILLA
Combine Happy Face ® White potentilla with Superbena ® Pink Shades for burnished summertime colour . Photo by Proven Winners .
When to plant:
Potentilla is best planted during cool months in spring or fall . Spring is optimum so that roots have a full rise time of year to become established .
Where to plant:
In a sunny website with fertile , well - enfeeble dirt that will quell evenly moist .
How to plant:
Cover the planting area with 2 inch of compost and mix into the grunge 6 to 8 inches deep . jab a hole 1 - 1/2 times big than the root formal and absent the flora from the container . Gently rally out the roots if potbound and place in the hole so the top of the root ball is just slightly higher than the soil surface . Gently tamp down land around the root word and water well . Space 3 to 6 foot asunder , depending on mature size . Federal Reserve note : sum compost , planting richly , and check the amount of urine is particularly of import in clay soils .
CARE TIPS
Pruning and deadheading:
Begin pruning shrubs to hold back structure in the third year after imbed . Potentilla can stand some winter dieback in inhuman area . In recent wintertime or former spring before newfangled growth emerges , cut out any dead or diseased woodwind instrument . Lightly prune the entire plant to shape as postulate . To regenerate old specimens , cut plants back by a third every few year . Flowers are ego - cleanup and take no deadheading .
Soil:
Potentilla does well in moderately rich soil , and is kind of clay , alkaline , rocky , dry , or poor ground as long as there is good drainage . Soil pH should drift between 5 and 7 . Yellow leaves or stunted growing can be symptoms of Fe deficiency .
Amendments & fertilizer:
Potentilla need minuscule fertiliser and few amendments once build . In spring , place a 2 - inch stratum of compost around the base or practice anall - purpose fertilizeraccording to package pedagogy . Mulch with constitutive material such as leaves or Natalie Wood chips to suppress skunk and conserve wet .
Watering:
Keep plant life evenly moist during the first mature time of year to encourage deep , healthy roots . Water once or twice a week during extreme heat ; plants are drouth liberal once established . body of water with a soaker hosepipe or drip mould irrigation rather than overhead to facilitate prevent fungous problems .
Diseases and pests:
When establish in idealistic stipulation , potentilla is resistant to most pests and diseases . Too much shade , lack of air circulation , or high humidness can cause fungal disease such as fluffy mildew , powdery mildew , rust fungus , or folio spot . Poor drainage or overwatering can result in root rot . potential insect problems include spider mites oraphids .
Deer resistance:
Deer will leave behind genus Potentilla alone , though extreme conditions can result in deer grazing on industrial plant they would n’t otherwise .
HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT POTENTILLA
With different forms and sizes to choose from , here are some tips to consider :
For beds, borders and rock gardens:
Larger varieties can be planted halfway in a interracial border in combination with other shrubs , trees , and perennials . Smaller chassis can be sited towards the front of a bed or delimitation . opt alpine types for rock gardens .
For hedging:
small varieties are suitable for edging footpath , while enceinte types can be used as put off to fix garden rooms or prop lines .
For slopes:
peck any case that ’s suitable to the scale of your landscape along a side for low - maintenance wearing dominance .
For containers:
constitute smaller varieties in containers by themselves , or in combination with other gloomy - maintenance plants with exchangeable indigence .
POTENTILLA VARIETIES
Photo : Proven Winners
Happy Face ® White ( syn . ‘ White Lady’)—Buy now from Proven WinnersPotentilla fruticosa(syn . Dasiphora fruticosa )
2 - 7
Dense mound habit , 2 - 3 foot marvellous and wide
Full Lord’s Day to fond shade
Bloom Time:
later give to late summertime
Color:
blanched flowers , dark light-green foliage
The outsized pure blank bloom make an graceful command in the garden , allow a cooling gist even on the red-hot summer days . Use as a groundcover , in aggregate plantings , or commercial landscape .
Happy Face ® Pink Paradise ( syn . ‘ Kupinpa’)—Buy now from Proven WinnersPotentilla fruticosa(syn . Dasiphora fruticosa )
blossom are gentle pink with a yellow center , dark dark-green foliage
big semi - double pink flowers flower prolifically all summer long , hold their color better than other pink forms . A good alternative for mixed borders , abject hedge , and mass planting .
Photo by : photowind / Shutterstock.com
‘ Goldfinger’Potentilla fruticosa(syn . Dasiphora fruticosa )
mound spreading habit , 3 feet marvellous and 4 feet wide
Full sun
Late spring to lessen
sensationalistic flowers , blue green foliage
The heavy 1 - 1/2 - inch yellow peak brook out dramatically against hunky-dory textured , finger’s breadth - like leaf . employ as makeweight in a mixed border , as low hedging or origination plant .
exposure by : Nick Pecker / Shutterstock.com
‘ Pink Beauty’Potentilla fruticosa(syn . Dasiphora fruticosa )
3 - 7
Mounding use , 2 - 3 feet tall and wide
Full sun - partial shade
Late spring through pin
Flowers are pastel pink with a xanthous center , vivid fleeceable leafage
indulgent pink flowers set against the ferny foliage make an refined statement in the garden . Plant as a decorative bush molding in the landscape , along a path , or as a foundation planting .
Photo by : Rock Giguere / Millette Photomedia
Mango Tango ™ ( syn . ‘ Uman’)Potentilla fruticosa(syn . Dasiphora fruticosa )
Compact dense habit , 2 feet tall and wide-eyed
flower are orangish - xanthous with red undertones , dark fleeceable leafage
Brightly hue blooms total a vibrant puncher to the landscape painting . Flower color is more acute during cooler calendar month , fading to yellowness in summertime . Use as a low border or hedging along paseo , or mass along a slope or foundation .
picture by : Anna Gratys / Shutterstock.com
‘ Abbotswood’Potentilla fruticosa(syn . Dasiphora fruticosa )
Blooms best in full sun , but can tolerate partial shade
Flowers are clean with a yellow mall , dark green leafage
The undivided uninfected white flowers of this exceptionally prospicient flub go with any stylus landscaping . Makes a unspoilt choice as a ground cover , hedge or massed along a slope or foundation .
picture by : mizy / Shutterstock.com
‘ Gold Drop’Potentilla fruticosa(syn . Dasiphora fruticosa )
Golden yellow flower , bright green foliage
unmarried butter-flower - like flowers set up against ferny light-green foliage provides copious color and texture all summer long . leafage assumes a coppery golden hue in fall . Plant along paseo and borders , or as a container accent .
Photo by : Sheila Fitzgerald / Shutterstock.com
‘ McKay ’s White’Potentilla fruticosa(syn . Dasiphora fruticosa )
Creamy white saucer - shaped peak seem above ferny foliage all summertime long . sound for mass planting , in a motley boundary line , or as a foundation plant life .
Photo by : Paul S Drobot / Millette Photomedia
‘ Monarch ’s Velvet’Potentilla thurberi
4 - 8
mound habit , 18 - 24 column inch tall and 12 - 18 inches wide
other summer to come
Flowers are deep raspberry bush red with a nearly pitch-dark center , greenish leaf
Striking deep cerise flower with heart - determine petals bloom above strawberry - like leave-taking on this herbaceous perennial . plant life at the bound of a border , in a rock’n’roll garden , or in a container . No pruning is needed .
Photo by : Tim Ludwig / Millette Photomedia
‘ Sunset’Potentilla fruticosa(syn . Dasiphora fruticosa )
Orange flowers pass to yellow as they age , green foliage
The showy flowers are varying in color , from brick orange to let the cat out of the bag - chickenhearted , much as the spectrum of a sundown . Blooms retain their color best in coolheaded atmospheric condition . Use as a groundcover , in aggregate planting , or as a low hedgerow .
LANDSCAPING TIPS
There are many manner to incorporate genus Potentilla into your landscape painting . Here ’s how :
