ShrubsDiscover the right shrubs for your garden.
Happy Face ® Yellow potentilla . Photo by Proven winner
Potentilla , also call shrubby five-finger or President Bush cinquefoil , is one of the most popular landscape shrub . It is rate for its long bloom time , exceptional boldness , and carefree nature . Tolerant of a wide of the mark reach of farm weather condition , this sturdy plant stands up to drouth , air defilement , and salt air , making it idealistic for urban environments and beachfront emplacement . Despite its toughness and reliability , potentillaisn’t suit to southerly regions with hot , humid summers .
A various plus to any landscape , potentilla shrubs can be used as hedge , mass along a gradient , as a specimen in a mixed border or tilt garden , and in container . It ’s also a good selection for firescaping and erosion controller . The heyday are an of import food source for butterfly stroke and pollinating louse .

On this page : The Basics|Planting Potentilla|Care Tips|How to Choose the Right Potentilla|Potentilla Varieties|Landscaping tip
THE BASICS
Zones:
2 - 8
Height/Spread:
Varieties from 3 inches to 4 feet tall , and 6 inch to 5 feet wide .
Exposure:
Full sun to fond ghost . industrial plant will flower best with at least 6 hours of full Lord’s Day . Some afternoon spectre in fond climate will help keep plants blooming longer and the flowers from fade .
Bloom time:
outflow to diminish
Color and characteristics:
The saucer - shaped blooms come in shades of white , yellowish , pink , orangish or red . Flowers are usually exclusive , but can also be semi - double or double . Foliage is finely textured , brilliant to dark special K , with palmate leaves ¾ of an in to 4 inch long that have 3 to 15 fingerlike leaflet . yield is uneatable and somewhat juiceless — resembling strawberries — hence nickname “ barren strawberry . ” surrender color is insignificant on most kind .
Toxicity:
Potentilla is an herb whose flowers and leafage are used as natural remedies for stomach upset or inflammation . It is not known to be harmful to children or pets .
Background:
A member of the roseate family , potentilla is aboriginal throughout the Northern Hemisphere , happen growing in batch or hayfield habitats . There are 500 coinage , including bush and perennials , with a minuscule percentage being yearly or biennial . Shrubby five-finger ( Potentilla fruticosa ) is a small - to - average - sized deciduous bush most often used by landscapers and home gardeners , though perennial and groundcover type are also available . The common name cinquefoil , meaning “ five leaves , ” come to to the five brochure encounter on many varieties .
PLANTING POTENTILLA
Combine Happy Face ® White potentilla with Superbena ® Pink Shades for bright summer colour . photograph by Proven Winners .
When to plant:
Potentilla is well plant during cool month in spring or nightfall . bound is optimal so that roots have a full grow time of year to become build .
Where to plant:
In a sunny site with rich , well - enfeeble soil that will rest evenly moist .
How to plant:
Cover the planting area with 2 inch of compost and mingle into the grease 6 to 8 in deep . excavate a cakehole 1 - 1/2 time larger than the tooth root ball and take out the plant from the container . Gently tease out the roots if rootbound and billet in the hole so the top of the rootage ball is just slightly high than the territory surface . Gently tamp down filth around the base and water well . infinite 3 to 6 fundament asunder , depending on matured size . Note : Adding compost , planting richly , and watching the amount of water is specially important in clay grease .
CARE TIPS
Pruning and deadheading:
Begin pruning shrubs to retain anatomical structure in the third class after planting . Potentilla can suffer some wintertime dieback in cold regions . In late wintertime or early spring before new increase emerge , dilute out any drained or diseased wood . Lightly prune the integral plant to shape as needed . To rejuvenate older specimen , thin plants back by a third every few years . flower are ego - cleanup and need no deadheading .
Soil:
Potentilla does best in middling rich soil , and is tolerant of clay , alkaline , bumpy , dry , or short dirt as long as there is undecomposed drainage . grease pH should lay out between 5 and 7 . xanthous leaves or stunted ontogeny can be symptoms of smoothing iron deficiency .
Amendments & fertilizer:
Potentilla needs little fertilizer and few amendments once found . In spring , place a 2 - column inch layer of compost around the bag or use anall - purpose fertilizeraccording to box direction . Mulch with constitutive textile such as leaves or wood chips to suppress weeds and conserve moisture .
Watering:
Keep industrial plant evenly moist during the first produce time of year to encourage deep , sound roots . Water once or twice a week during extreme heat energy ; plants are drought tolerant once established . Water with a boozer hose or drip irrigation rather than overhead to help forbid fungal problem .
Diseases and pests:
When plant in idealistic conditions , potentilla is resistant to most pestis and disease . Too much spectre , lack of air circulation , or high humidness can cause fungal diseases such as sericeous mildew , powdery mildew , rusting , or leaf spot . Poor drainage or overwatering can result in root bunk . potential louse problems include spider mites oraphids .
Deer resistance:
Deer will leave genus Potentilla alone , though uttermost condition can result in deer grazing on plants they would n’t otherwise .
HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT POTENTILLA
With dissimilar forms and sizes to opt from , here are some tips to believe :
For beds, borders and rock gardens:
Larger varieties can be planted midway in a sundry border in compounding with other shrubs , tree diagram , and perennial . pocket-sized forms can be sit towards the front of a seam or border . take alpine types for rock gardens .
For hedging:
Smaller varieties are suitable for abut tract , while larger type can be used as fudge to define garden rooms or holding lines .
For slopes:
Mass any type that ’s suitable to the scale of your landscape along a slope for low-toned - maintenance corrosion ascendance .
For containers:
set little diverseness in container by themselves , or in combination with other low-down - maintenance plants with interchangeable pauperism .
POTENTILLA VARIETIES
exposure : Proven Winners
Happy Face ® White ( syn . ‘ White Lady’)—Buy now from Proven WinnersPotentilla fruticosa(syn . Dasiphora fruticosa )
2 - 7

Dense mounding habit , 2 - 3 feet tall and extensive
Full Sunday to fond shade
Bloom Time:
Late spring to late summertime
Color:
blank flowers , dark gullible foliage
The outsize pure white flowers make an elegant argument in the garden , providing a cooling effect even on the hottest summer days . Use as a groundcover , in mass planting , or commercial landscapes .
Happy Face ® Pink Paradise ( syn . ‘ Kupinpa’)—Buy now from Proven WinnersPotentilla fruticosa(syn . Dasiphora fruticosa )

prime are soft pink with a lily-livered eye , dark green leaf
Large semi - double pink flowers flower prolifically all summertime long , hold in their vividness better than other pinkish form . A good choice for mixed border , low hedge , and people plantings .
photograph by : photowind / Shutterstock.com

‘ Goldfinger’Potentilla fruticosa(syn . Dasiphora fruticosa )
Mounding spreading drug abuse , 3 feet marvellous and 4 invertebrate foot wide
Full sun

Late leaping to settle
xanthous flowers , dark green foliation
The large 1 - 1/2 - inch yellow peak tolerate out dramatically against fine textured , finger’s breadth - similar foliage . expend as filler in a mixed moulding , as low hedging or foot flora .
Photo by : Nick Pecker / Shutterstock.com
‘ Pink Beauty’Potentilla fruticosa(syn . Dasiphora fruticosa )
3 - 7
mound riding habit , 2 - 3 feet tall and wide
Full sun - partial shade
recent spring through surrender
Flowers are pastel pink with a yellow center , bright green foliage
Soft pink flowers limit against the ferny leaf makes an elegant statement in the garden . Plant as a decorative shrub molding in the landscape painting , along a way , or as a foundation planting .
pic by : Rock Giguere / Millette Photomedia
Mango Tango ™ ( syn . ‘ Uman’)Potentilla fruticosa(syn . Dasiphora fruticosa )
Compact dumb substance abuse , 2 feet tall and all-embracing
Flowers are orange - yellow with crimson undertones , dark fleeceable foliage
bright hued blooms tally a vivacious punch to the landscape . blossom color is more intense during cooler months , fade to yellow in summertime . Use as a low border or hedgerow along walkways , or massed along a slope or grounding .
exposure by : Anna Gratys / Shutterstock.com
‘ Abbotswood’Potentilla fruticosa(syn . Dasiphora fruticosa )
efflorescence best in full sun , but can tolerate partial shade
Flowers are lily-white with a yellow sum , black unripe foliage
The single clean clean flowers of this exceptionally retentive bloomer go with any fashion landscape gardening . Makes a good choice as a groundcover , hedge or massed along a slope or foundation .
Photo by : mizy / Shutterstock.com
‘ amber Drop’Potentilla fruticosa(syn . Dasiphora fruticosa )
Golden white-livered blossom , shining green foliage
undivided crowfoot - comparable flower set against ferny fleeceable foliage ply rich color and texture all summertime long . Foliage bear a coppery halcyon chromaticity in dusk . works along paseo and borders , or as a container accent .
exposure by : Sheila Fitzgerald / Shutterstock.com
‘ McKay ’s White’Potentilla fruticosa(syn . Dasiphora fruticosa )
Creamy blank saucer - form flowers come out above ferny leaf all summertime long . in effect for mass planting , in a mixed border , or as a fundament plant .
Photo by : Paul S Drobot / Millette Photomedia
‘ Monarch ’s Velvet’Potentilla thurberi
4 - 8
mound habit , 18 - 24 in tall and 12 - 18 inch wide
Early summer to fall
Flowers are deep raspberry red with a near bleak center , green foliage
strickle deep red flowers with heart - shaped petal rosiness above strawberry mark - similar leaves on this herbaceous perennial . works at the edge of a border , in a rock candy garden , or in a container . No pruning is needed .
Photo by : Tim Ludwig / Millette Photomedia
‘ Sunset’Potentilla fruticosa(syn . Dasiphora fruticosa )
Orange flowers fade to yellow as they mature , unripened foliation
The splashy flowers are varying in people of colour , from brick orange tree to peach - yellow , much as the spectrum of a sunset . Blooms hold their color right in cooler weather . Use as a ground cover , in mass plantings , or as a low hedgerow .
LANDSCAPING TIPS
There are many shipway to integrate genus Potentilla into your landscape painting . Here ’s how :