Potentilla neumanniana 'Nana'
     
Common Name: cinquefoil
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Rosaceae
Zone: 4 to 8
Height: 0.25 to 0.5 feet
Spread: 0.5 to 1 feet
Bloom Time: April to June
Bloom Color: Yellow
Bloom Description: Yellow
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Flowers: Showy Flowers
Leaves: Fragrant
Tolerates: Drought, Deer
Uses: Groundcover, Will Naturalize

Culture

Grow in average, medium moisture, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade. Prefers moist, cool soils in full sun. When grown as a ground cover, it can be mowed occasionally on a high setting to trim up the plants.

Noteworthy Characteristics

A prostrate, mat-forming cinquefoil which typically grows 3-4" tall and which can spread rapidly by runners to form a dense ground cover. Spicy-scented, strawberry-like leaves are shiny, palmate and deep green, but usually with 5 leaflets per leaf (cinq means 5 in French), although occasionally 3. Buttery yellow, 5-petaled flowers (1/4" diameter) appear in spring. Evergreen plant in warm winter areas. This cultivar is sometimes also sold as P. verna, P. tabernaemontani or P. crantzii.

Problems

No serious insect or disease problems.

Garden Uses

An interesting ground cover for both small and large areas. Can be used in lieu of lawn grass in areas where there is no foot traffic. Also effective for walls or rock gardens. May be too spreading for the border front.