Potentilla fruticosa Redissima - Shrubby Cinquefoil

The Shrubby Cinquefoil Red'issima naturally forms a dense and branching bush, with a neat appearance. A beautiful improvement on the 'Red Ace' variety, this cinquefoil offers flowers throughout the summer.  These small, dark red, single flowers become more orange when summer is in full swing. The flower colour is highlighted by the deciduous foliage, which is both fine and dense, with a bluish-green ashy colour. This plant, both subtle and beautifully coloured, will bring a touch of cheerfulness to flower beds, rockeries, and balconies for several weeks. Easy to grow, it is suitable for all gardeners, even beginners!

Shrubby potentillas are native to the northern hemisphere and belong to the Rosaceae family.  Potentilla fruticosa is a shrub that, with the help of breeders, has produced a number of charming varieties. 'Red'issima' shows healthy and particularly branching growth, forming a large dense cushion. Wider than it is tall, this shrub reaches a height of approximately 50 cm (20in) with a spread of 1 m at maturity. Its deciduous foliage consists of 3 cm (1in) long, pinnate leaves with narrow leaflets, bluish-green turning yellow in autumn. This elegantly cut foliage is covered with white hairs, giving it a silky and silvery appearance. Its delicate flowers, resembling those of single-flowered roses, are cup-shaped, 2-3 cm (1in) in diameter, with five petals surrounding golden stamens. When temperatures are lower or in partial shade, the flowers are deep red. They turn vermilion orange in full sun and hot weather. The abundant flowering starts in May-June and ends in October, weather permitting. It should be noted that the flowering is more intense at the beginning of summer and loses some of its vigour during the season.

Easy-to-grow plants, floriferous, and beautifully coloured, Potentillas are ideal for brightening up the garden or balcony.  With their Scottish rose-like appearance and their very modest requirements, they can be used in multiple ways and planted anywhere: in flower beds, rock gardens, borders, low hedges, containers..under most climates and in well-drained soil. 

By placing them at the front of your flower beds, they will be perfect for quickly achieving colourful and vibrant flower beds worthy of impressionist paintings. They go beautifully with the blue flowers of perennial flax and wild chicory, and will have a stunning effect alongside Dahlias, Iris germanica, Yarrows, or Rudbeckias, for example. They will ideally combine with Mediterranean plants such as Lavenders, Rosemary, or Rockroses, for a warm and fragrant atmosphere. To create a contemporary scene, they can be paired with plants with a more slender or tousled habit (Phormiums, Grasses, Euphorbias, Crocosmias). On a slope or rockery, where they will be ideally placed if your garden soil is heavy or clay, they can also be associated with dwarf or creeping conifers, creeping Ceanothus or even groundcover and landscape roses.