Potentilla fruticosa - Shrubby Cinquefoil

The shrub Potentilla, in Latin Potentilla fruticosa, is a small deciduous bush that is very hardy and truly accommodating and blooms for a very long spring and summer period, even until autumn. With a variable habit, often wider than tall, the plant is adorned with small silky leaves and yellow flowers that resemble small wild roses. This potentilla fits everywhere, in flower beds, but also in large pots on the terrace. Easy to grow in well-drained soil, this wild plant tolerates poor and fairly dry soils in summer.

Potentilla fruticosa, now renamed Dasiphora fruticosa, is a woody shrub that belongs to the family Rosaceae. It is a botanical species distributed from cool temperate regions of the northern hemisphere to subarctic regions. It is also found in high mountain areas. Growing quite fast, it forms a shrub measuring about 80 cm (32in) in height and 1 m (3ft) in width, sometimes more in rich and moist soil. Its habit is rounded and spreading and highly branched. Its foliage is deciduous, appearing in spring and falling in autumn. The small size of the leaves, divided into narrow leaflets, gives a beautiful lightness to its silhouette. A slight white hairiness gives a silky and fuzzy appearance to the whole plant. Its delicate flowers, resembling small wild roses, are cup-shaped, 3 cm (1in) in diameter, and composed of 5 yellow petals surrounding a display of golden stamens. The abundant flowers, starting in May/June and ending with the first frost, are more intense at the beginning of summer, then lose some of their vigour during the season.

In the sun, potentillas will deliver flowers with vibrant colours, but in partial shade this colour will appear slightly less intense. Carefree plants, generously blooming and beautifully coloured, potentillas are ideal for brightening up the garden or balcony, permanent and effortless. With their little rose-like flowers and their very modest requirements, they can be used in multiple ways and planted anywhere: in flower beds, rockeries, borders, low hedges, containers... Under most climates and in any well-drained soil.