Potent potentilla
They were colorful in June...
...and given some cool weather in August, they do a Labor Day
encore. Shrubby cinquefoil (once Potentilla fruticosa,
it's recently had a name change to Dasiphora fruticosa) is
native throughout much of North America including New England, the
Great Lakes, the Upper Midwest, all of Canada and the American West
right up into Alaska. It's a lover of cool summers -- thus it's
absent in the Southeast and occurs in Arizona only in the cool
mountainous areas. So it qualifies as one of those plants northern
gardeners can grow to get even with southeastern gardening friends
who crow about camellias.
We once laughed and called this tough little shrub the
"bellybutton plant" since it seemed everyone had one.
For years we sneered at this plant as "common." Lately we've
taken new notice, such as at 45mph this week. We used to say, "You
need to sheer them after they finish flowering in June so they'll
re-bloom a bit." Yet here they are in a bed untended but for water
and weeding, producing a re-bloom at summer's end to rival the June
show, without even the threat of a clip.
Give them full sun and well drained soil, cut them back every
few years, or cut some branches out every year to keep the wood
young and lively, and enjoy 'em!
They aren't only yellow and white anymore! (Below, 'Gold
Drop' on the left and 'Abbotswood' on the right.)
This year at Abele's Greenhouse in Saginaw we took note of
'Pink Beauty' and 'Mango Tango.'
