Worth the wort

The dowdy shrub in the background is shrubby cinquefoil. Cinquefoil, used to be Potentilla fruticosa...and now (depending on the source) Dasiphora fruticosa, or Dasiphora floribunda, or Pentaphylloides floribunda. (Ahem...taxonomists! This kind of thing does nothing...nothing!...to bring those skittish about botanical nomenclature into the fold.) But, as I was saying, this potentilla is mostly a disappointment on its own. It's unable to thrive in the deep shade and chalky soil of this north foundation bed, and bears a paradoxical habit of being too upright and shapeless at the same time. It's never thickened up enough to allow its tiny yellow flowers to accumulate any visual impact, and demands too much pruning of its tiny gangly winterkilled stems every spring.

The shrub in the foreground—Hypericum 'Hidcote', or St. John's Wort—is helping uncover the potentilla's potential. (And as beautiful as it is, the hypericum doesn't have the stature of a specimen, so the potentilla's contrasting foliage color and size repay the favor.) The hypericum's stems arc elegantly to soften the unkempt bristling of its neighbor, and draw attention to the five-petaled miniature blossoms of the potentilla through the amplified echo of its oversized, waxy, warm yellow single blooms.

Comments

[Kathy]

The potentilla is probably a disappointment because it is not in the sun where it needs to be.

[CyndiF]

Potentilla does so well here in Colorado that it's one of those plants that I have to force myself to like despite its blatent overuse in foundation plantings. I usually do this by classifying MY potentilla in a separate catagory from all those sad ones sitting alone in office parks. The new overused plant here is Russian Sage, which isn't surprising, as it is just about the perfect plant for our climate. What plants do landscapers abuse in Wisconsin?

[M Sinclair Stevens (Texas)]

Your writing, as usual, is radiant.

And, yes, those taxonimists aren't helping us sell Latin as the universal language of gardeners, are they? I had the same problem writing up Duranta and Palo verde.

[Julana]

We had the potentilla at our former house. It did ok, but was a little gangly, and attracted yellow jackets. Ouch!
This summer, I saw large, full potentilla bushes in NE Minnesota. I was surprised they could look so good. Not sure what made the difference.

[Bitterroot]

Wonderful job with the photos, Chan! The combination of your lyrical descriptions and the photos to illuminate is an excellent read.

Your neighbor just a few blocks away, Bitterroot