{"id":3129,"date":"2020-07-20T10:30:38","date_gmt":"2020-07-20T18:30:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/?p=3129"},"modified":"2020-07-20T10:30:38","modified_gmt":"2020-07-20T18:30:38","slug":"cinqfoil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/cinqfoil\/","title":{"rendered":"Cinqfoil"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shrubby cinquefoil or Potentilla fruticosa is the rose\u2019s often-overlooked relative.\u00a0 It boasts so many conspicuous virtues\u2014hardiness, varmint-resistance, a repeat-blooming habit and beauty\u2014but somehow it lacks the flash of the eternally beloved rose.<\/p>\n

I am, of course, addicted to roses, but not long ago I finally bought a pink-flowered potentilla and now I wonder why I waited so long.\u00a0 It is a deciduous, many-branched shrub that grows to about three feet tall and two or three feet wide.\u00a0 Many contemporary varieties have a neat, mounding habit, but some sprawl in a ground-covering way that can be curbed by judicious staking.\u00a0 The foliage is beautiful.\u00a0 Each stem is adorned with deeply dissected leaves, which, to the casual observer appear as five-leaflet clusters.\u00a0 These are usually medium to dark green, but may also be grey-green or blue-green on some varieties.\u00a0 In fact, \u201ccinqfoil\u201d, the common name, means \u201cfive leaves\u201d.<\/p>\n

The flowers, which have five petals apiece, bear more than a passing resemblance to single roses, and usually feature yellow to golden stamens.\u00a0 Though relatively small at roughly one inch wide, they are available in a range of colors.\u00a0 The most common color is yellow, but the range includes just about every shade except for deepest purple and blue.\u00a0 Some of the red varieties change color from red to yellow as the blooms age.\u00a0 A healthy plant will cover itself with flowers at intervals throughout the growing season, arguably giving more value for the money than many roses.<\/p>\n

Potentilla has been stars of the ornamental garden world for a long time.\u00a0 Nineteenth century plant breeding virtuoso, Victor Lemoine, who loved double flowers, bred the first double potentilla, which he called \u2018Gloire de Nancy\u2019.\u00a0 Though not commercially available today, it was a hit in its day.\u00a0 Double and single-flowered varieties have spent time in the horticultural spotlight, and then receded from popularity by turns.\u00a0 Right now, with the strong vogue for easy-care flowering shrubs, they are beginning to enjoy resurgence, with a host of varieties widely available.<\/p>\n

When I want to assess a species\u2019 popularity, I always turn to plant mega-wholesalers like Monrovia and Proven winners.\u00a0 Monrovia currently lists 14 different varieties and Proven Winners carries four.\u00a0 This means that you can obtain the plants readily at local nurseries and garden centers.<\/p>\n

Sometimes it is hard to be spoiled for choice, when what you really want is just one or two really good varieties.\u00a0 If that is your plight in this life, start out with \u2018Abbotswood\u2019, which won the Royal Horticultural Society\u2019s Award of Garden Merit in 1993, and is considered by many to be among the best white-flowered potentillas.\u00a0 It has the neat mounding habit that shouts \u201ccarefree\u201d to gardeners, with the bonus of blue-green foliage. Like all potentillas, it will attract butterflies but not deer, rabbits or other predators of that ilk.<\/p>\n

Breeders of modern potentillas generally aim for larger than average flowers and a tidy habit.\u00a0 Plants in the Happy Face series fit that bill.\u00a0 Flower colors for Happy Face \u2018White\u2019 and \u2018Yellow\u2019 are self evident.\u00a0 You can also buy \u2018Pink Paradise\u2019, with sweet, pink and white blossoms, or the more vivid \u2018Hearts\u2019, which blooms in a deeper rose shade.\u00a0 All feature green foliage.<\/p>\n

Another longtime favorite is \u2018Primrose Beauty\u2019, with primrose yellow flowers and lovely grey-green foliage.\u00a0 If you are partial to the primrose color, but love the romantic look of double flowers, try the delicious-sounding \u201cLemon Meringue\u2019.<\/p>\n

Some of us yearn for drama in the garden, which is perfectly understandable, especially at times like the present, when life seems very constricted.\u00a0 Potentillas in the orange, red-orange and red color ranges will provide abundant flashes of bright light.\u00a0 Many people have commented on \u2018Red Ace\u2019, which is a color changer that moves from red to yellow.\u00a0 Something similar happens with \u2018Marob\u2019, sold as \u201cMarian Red Robin\u201d, which fades from red to orange.\u00a0 The latter has been recognized by the Royal Horticultural Society.\u00a0 The color changing phenomenon in potentillas is triggered by variations in temperature and day length.<\/p>\n

\u2018Bella Sol\u2019 opens yellow-orange and stays that way.\u00a0 \u2018Twinkling Star\u2019 has red to coral petals that catch the eye because of their larger than average size.<\/p>\n

Like many other rose family members, potentillas like full sun\u2014six hours or so per day\u2014and well drained soil.\u00a0 They are not fans of hot, sticky summers, but can get through sultry periods with the application of consistent moisture.\u00a0 Mulching is helpful.<\/p>\n

Use them as single specimens in mixed, annual\/perennial\/shrub borders, or as lovely, low hedges or garden room dividers.\u00a0 They are also excellent for pollinator gardens.<\/p>\n

Well stocked nurseries and garden centers will probably offer at least one or two potentillas, especially if those retailers carry plants from Monrovia.\u00a0 For a good selection by mail order try ForestFarm, 14643 Water Gap Rd, Williams, OR 97544; (541) 846-7269; www.forestfarm.com.<\/p>\n

\"potentilla\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shrubby cinquefoil or Potentilla fruticosa is the rose\u2019s often-overlooked relative.\u00a0 It boasts so many conspicuous virtues\u2014hardiness, varmint-resistance, a repeat-blooming habit and beauty\u2014but somehow it lacks the flash of the eternally beloved rose. I am, of course, addicted to roses, but not long ago I finally bought a pink-flowered potentilla and now I wonder why I … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,2,3],"tags":[2343,1423,491,523,524,2344,488],"class_list":["post-3129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest","category-spring","category-summer","tag-cinqfoil","tag-dwarf-flowering-shrubs","tag-flowering-shrubs","tag-lemoine","tag-potentilla","tag-potentilla-fruticosa","tag-rose-family"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3129"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3131,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3129\/revisions\/3131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}