Cinquefoil (Potentilla) belongs to one of the largest genera in terms of the number of species, which is included in the rose family. Its prominent representatives are considered to be Potentilla erecta (galangal grass) and Potentilla goose. Most of the species of this genus can be found in natural conditions in the Northern Hemisphere. Cinquefoil comes from the Latin word "potent" - "powerful, strong." Apparently, this refers to the incredible healing power of individual representatives of this kind. There are approximately 500 species of cinquefoil all over the world, which are represented mainly by herbaceous plants, but there are also shrubs among them. At the same time, grass and shrubs belonging to this genus are cultivated in gardens. The cinquefoil shrub in Russia is called Kuril tea or cinquefoil, and there is an ancient legend that tells about Ilya Muromets, the smell of cinquefoil gave him unprecedented strength. Russian healers also call cinquefoil the mighty one, and since ancient times it has been used to heal a variety of ailments, as well as to restore strength. Today, this plant is mostly used as an ornamental plant, and experts plant it on a green lawn as a tapeworm, and they also decorate borders, alpine slides and hedges.
Description of Nepalese cinquefoil
Cinquefoil Nepali grows naturally in Nepal and the Western Himalayas. The shrub reaches a height of about 50 cm. The leaves of the plant are large, palmate, and similar in appearance to strawberry leaves.
Cinquefoil can decorate any flowerbed
The inflorescences of the cinquefoil are paniculate and consist of small pink flowers. The plant blooms in the second year after planting. The flowering period lasts 2-2.5 months.
Nepalese cinquefoil has become the basis for hybrid varieties:
- Floris;
- Miss Wilmont;
- Roxana;
- Legend;
- Fiery flame.
Cinquefoil after flowering
Autumn care
In autumn, annual cinquefoil should be removed from the site after its appearance becomes unattractive, and it is necessary to dig up the area with fertilizer. For shrubby cinquefoil, when it finishes blooming, all shoots should be shortened by 1/3, and to prevent diseases, the bushes should be treated with Bordeaux mixture.
Wintering
The perennial cinquefoil does not need shelter for the winter, because it has high frost resistance, and it does not matter whether it is a herbaceous plant or a shrub. Young seedlings planted in autumn and rooted cuttings need shelter.
Features of planting
Cinquefoil Abbotswood - description and care
The plant is completely undemanding to growing conditions. When growing a crop for good development and abundant flowering, you need to choose a suitable place.
For Nepalese cinquefoil, it is better to choose an open, well-lit area. Planting in partial shade is acceptable, but the lack of sunlight will certainly affect the appearance of the plant, especially the quality of its flowering.
Potentilla has small, richly colored flowers
The process of planting Nepalese cinquefoil is as follows:
- Dig a planting hole about 50-60 cm deep.
- Drainage material must be added to the bottom. It can be gravel, coarse sand, brick chips.
- The next layer is a mixture of soil, humus and sand.
- A seedling is planted and covered with soil.
- Water the planted plant. It must also be carried out within 2-3 weeks after planting, preventing the soil from drying out.
It is important to know! Nepalese cinquefoil prefers loose soils with a high lime content. The best option is loam or sandy loam.
Planting from seeds
Propagating cinquefoil by seed gives good results. Seed material is sown either for seedlings or immediately in a permanent place of growth. To plant seedlings, small seeds are carefully placed in a prepared substrate, covered with film or glass, placed in a warm place and periodically moistened. It is recommended to plant at the end of winter - at the beginning of spring.
Planting seedlings in open ground
When the young plants are strong enough, they are planted in a flower bed. It is advisable to do this, as well as plant seeds in open ground, no earlier than the end of spring, when the ground has warmed up and the threat of night frosts has passed.
The plant blooms from early summer until the first frost
Types and varieties of cinquefoil with photos and names
There are many types of cinquefoil, and several times more varieties. Therefore, only those varieties and species that are most popular will be presented below.
Herbaceous species that are most popular:
Cinquefoil (Potentilla apennina)
This perennial plant has a rosette of leaves consisting of trifoliate leaf blades with silvery pubescence. The color of the flowers is white or pink.
White cinquefoil (Potentilla alba)
In nature, it can be found in the central regions of the European part of Russia, the Balkans and the Caucasus. The height of such a perennial plant varies from 8 to 25 centimeters; the complex basal leaf plates are palmate-lobed, and they have brown stipules. Loose racemose or umbrella-shaped inflorescences consist of several white flowers with a three-centimeter diameter. The height of the peduncles is about 25 centimeters, there are no stem leaves.
Cinquefoil or crow's foot (Potentilla anserina)
The pinnately compound leaf plates are collected in a basal rosette and reach 20 centimeters in length, with pubescence on their underside. On leafless peduncles there are single yellow flowers, which can reach 20 mm in diameter.
Nepalese cinquefoil (Potentilla nepalensis)
This perennial can reach half a meter in height; its straight, branched shoots are purple in color. The length of the dark green palmate leaf blades is about 0.3 m. The diameter of the flowers is about 30 mm, their color can be pale pink or red, and the veins are dark pink. The flowers are part of paniculate inflorescences. Flowering begins in July and lasts about 8 weeks. The most decorative varieties:
- Roxana . On the surface of the salmon-orange flowers there are dark veins.
- Miss Wilmott . It blooms luxuriantly and for a relatively long time. Cherry-pink flowers have a dark eye.
- Floris . The light salmon flowers have an orange-red eye.
Cinquefoil erecta, or straight, or galangal (Potentilla erecta)
In nature, this species can be found in forest and tundra zones, while these flowers grow on lawns and forest edges, along the banks of swamps and rivers. This perennial has a woody rhizome that is unevenly thickened. The height of the erect stem reaches 20 centimeters; leaves are located on its upper branched part. Trifoliate leaf blades can be sessile or long-petiolate basal (wither before flowering). Regular single flowers can reach 10 mm in diameter; they are located on thin long stalks. Flowering occurs from June to August.
Silver cinquefoil (Potentilla argentea)
This perennial has a large tuberous rhizome. The height of the slender arched rising shoot can reach up to 0.3 m. The lower stem and basal leaf plates are five-seven-parted, long-scaled, and the upper stem and middle ones are three-five-partite; on the underside there is a dense coating consisting of white pile. The loose paniculate-corymbose inflorescence includes small flowers, the diameter of which is 1.2 centimeters. Flowering occurs in June and July.
Hybrid cinquefoil (Potentilla x hybrida)
This species includes garden forms and varieties of hybrid origin. Most plants have vertical or oblique rhizomes. The height of the erect, highly branched stems reaches 0.9 m; there is pubescence on their surface. The basal rosette consists of palmate or trifoliate long-petiolate leaf plates with sharp teeth along the edge. The trifoliate stem leaves are sessile. The loose corymbose or racemose inflorescence includes velvety flowers reaching a diameter of 40 mm; their color can be yellow, pink, red or dark purple.
Popular varieties:
- Master Floris . Flowering is lush and long lasting. The large simple flowers are pale yellow in color.
- Yellow Queen . The bush reaches a height of 0.3 m, and it has glossy yellow flowers.
- Vulcan . Double flowers of deep red color.
Also very popular are cinquefoils: two-flowered, golden, long-leaved, shaggy, Krantz, deceptive, tansy, dark blood-red, silver-leaved, Tonga, three-toothed, shiny, stemless, snow-white, arctic, etc.
Among the shrubs, gardeners cultivate Kuril cinquefoil (Pentaphylloides fruticosa), which is also called Kuril tea, yellow cinquefoil and five-leaved flower. Experts previously classified this species as a cinquefoil, but not so long ago it was separated into a separate genus called Kuril tea, Dasiphora (Dasys - densely hairy, phoros - bearing). This genus consists of 10 species, from which a large number of varieties and garden forms have already been created that are honey plants. Designers often create very impressive hedges from such shrubs.
Daurian cinquefoil (Pentaphylloides davurica)
The height of such a shrub can reach up to 0.6 m. Its bare stems are erect. Almost leathery, five-part leaf plates have a bluish underside and a glossy front surface. The diameter of the white flowers is about 25 mm, they are often solitary, but in some cases they can be part of several-flowered inflorescences shaped like an umbrella. Flowering is long-lasting, exceeding 3 months. Cultivated since 1822
Bush cinquefoil (Pentaphylloides fruticosa)
In nature, it can be found in forest-steppes and forests, Russia, Central Asia, Western Europe and the Caucasus. This shrub is distinguished by its high endurance. The height of the highly branching bush can reach up to 150 centimeters; the peeling bark is colored brown or gray. The lush crown has a hemispherical shape. The entire lanceolate-shaped leaf plates are 30 mm long and 10 mm wide and can be three-five-seven-parted. Young leaves have a light green color, but over time it changes to green-silver as pubescence appears. The yellow-golden flowers have a diameter of 20 mm, and they can be single or collected in loose apical racemes or corymbose inflorescences. Flowering lasts from the second half of June to the first days of October. Cultivated since 1700. In America and European countries, as a rule, cultivars of this species are grown because they are the most resistant to such climatic conditions.
Popular low-growing varieties: Abbotswood, Jolaina, Dakota Sunrise, Goldstar, Goldfinger, Reisenberg (flower color varies in orange-yellow range), Farrese White and Rhodocalyx (flower color is white).
Winter-hardy tall varieties include the yellow-flowered Elizabeth and Catherine Dykes. The height of the bushes reaches more than 100 centimeters.
Winter-resistant varieties with grayish-silver leaf blades include Goldterppich, Darts Golddigger, Bisi.
Low-growing compact varieties that are not frost-resistant and need shelter for the winter: Klondike, Kobold (yellow flowers), Red Ice, Parvifolia, Red Robbin (yellow-copper flowers), Sunset (brick-red to orange-yellow flowers) ), Eastleigh Cream (white and cream flowers), Royal Flash, Daydown, Pretty Polly and Blink (pink flowers).
The following species are also of particular interest: small-leaved five-leafed, dry-flowered, Manchurian and Friedrichsen. They are still poorly studied by breeders.
How to care for Nepalese cinquefoil
Cinquefoil Goldfinger - description, planting and care
For good development and long flowering when caring for Nepalese cinquefoil, you must adhere to the following basic conditions:
- Watering. Mature plants do not need constant watering. In dry times, it is enough to keep the soil slightly moist. Mulching the soil can help with this. When watering, it is better to use heated water, since the roots of the plant are sensitive to temperature changes.
- Feeding. The plant needs feeding three times per season: in early spring, during the formation of buds and at the end of summer. It is advisable to use a complex mineral fertilizer with a predominance of nitrogen (at the beginning of the season) and potassium with phosphorus during subsequent procedures.
- Loosening. You need to make sure that there are no weeds growing in the flowerbed where the cinquefoil grows. To do this, they are regularly weeded, and the soil around the plants is loosened shallowly. This procedure helps saturate the soil with oxygen.
- Trimming. Nepalese cinquefoil bushes are prone to overgrowth, so periodically they need to undergo formative pruning. You can give the plantings any shape. Anti-aging pruning is carried out once every 4-5 years - in the spring the plant is cut off completely and be sure to fertilize it. Over the next season it rejuvenates.
Potentilla seeds give good germination
Grow scarlet cinquefoil by seeds – Cottage, garden, vegetable garden, indoor plants
Cinquefoil (otherwise known as Kuril tea ) is a perennial shrub plant.
It has been cultivated for a very long time and is grown as an ornamental.
And in recent years, cinquefoil has become widespread as a useful remedy in traditional medicine recipes .
Many varieties of shrubs are cold-resistant and unpretentious in care. Try growing it on your own plot – it’s an excellent option when decorating your garden.
Popular varieties of cinquefoil: which one is better?
Many varieties of cinquefoil have already been bred - over 500. Each of them is distinguished by its resistance to external conditions, planting and flowering times, the size and shade of the inflorescences, and the height of the stems.
Gardeners can choose from the following popular types in landscape design:
• Altai cinquefoil . The plant grows up to 35 cm in length, which makes it possible to use it when decorating rockeries and rock gardens. Flowers are up to 15 mm in diameter, collected in inflorescences.
• Cinquefoil shiny . A beautiful shrub with soft pink flowers and silver-green leaves. It is very light-loving and loves frequent soil moisture. Designers use it on alpine slides.
• Cinquefoil stemless . The lowest representative of the entire family - it grows only 6 cm in length. During the flowering period, miniature herbaceous bushes form inflorescences with a diameter of up to 17 mm.
• Nepalese cinquefoil . Representatives of this species are famous for their long flowering time - up to 55 days. Rich red or dark pink flowers will brighten any garden. Hybrids of Nepalese cinquefoil have been bred - Floris, Miss Wilmott, Roxana.
• Cinquefoil is dark red-bloody . The height of the plant is up to 60 cm. It begins to bloom early - already in June. Inflorescences are up to 5 cm in diameter, scarlet in color. A beautiful variety of dark blood red cinquefoil - Gibson's Scarlet.
• Hybrid cinquefoil . The shrub, if the rules of care are followed, can reach a height of up to 90 cm. The shades of the inflorescences of the bred varieties of the plant are striking - yellow, purple, pink, bright red. Popular decorative varieties of hybrid cinquefoil are Plena, Vulcan, Master Floris, Yellow Queen.
• Cinquefoil Apennine . This is a perennial that grows up to only 15 cm in length. It is usually planted on rocky rock gardens.
• Arctic cinquefoil . Representatives of the species tolerate cold well, but excellent growth rates occur only in illuminated areas. The flowers are deep yellow. The leaves are dark green with a light edge.
• White bloodroot . The plant stretches up to 25 cm in length. Under favorable conditions, it begins to bloom early - already in mid-May. Snow-white inflorescences up to 3 cm in diameter bloom on the stems. White cinquefoil is unpretentious in care and winters well.
• Cinquefoil anseri . An unpretentious plant with yellow inflorescences - it can actively bloom even in areas with unfavorable environmental conditions. A shaded place will suit the shrub.
Each type of cinquefoil forms a dense leafy crown and tolerates decorative pruning well. You can choose any of the varieties.
Which area to choose for planting cinquefoil?
Despite the fact that cinquefoil is considered a non-capricious plant, give it the right place! If all conditions are met, the plant can bloom until the onset of cold weather.
The area for active growth of shrubs should be:
• with fertile soil (but loams may also be suitable),
• with moderate humus content in the soil,
• well lit,
• with a pH level of 7-8.5
• protected from northern winds,
• well drained.
The level of lighting is especially important, since not all varieties of cinquefoil grow well in the shade. Due to the lack of sunlight, the leaves and inflorescences become less brightly colored.
Have you already decided where you will grow cinquefoil in the future? You can begin preparing the soil for planting.
To do this, you will need to carry out a number of agrotechnical measures:
• Dig up the area and remove all weeds.
• Prepare planting holes 40-60 cm deep. Place a layer of gravel at the bottom for better drainage.
It also doesn’t hurt to add a mixture of sand with humus and 100 g of lime or wood ash to the hole so that the seedlings take root better in the new place.
The distance between the holes will depend on the plant variety chosen. To create hedges, maintain a distance of 50-70 cm between individual specimens.
When the planting holes are ready, you can begin planting cinquefoil using one of the possible methods.
Methods for planting cinquefoil on the site
The most popular methods of planting cinquefoil are seeds and ready-made seedlings. Both options are simple and do not require special skills from the gardener. Which to choose?
Please note - not all plant varieties reproduce well by seed! For example, white cinquefoil is planted only as seedlings. Another problem associated with seed planting is that it is quite difficult to obtain the material itself.
It’s great if you get seeds from friends who collected them from their own plant. But it is not a fact that all the rules were followed - perhaps the plant will never sprout.
In addition, you will be able to see beautiful flowering no sooner than after 2 seasons.
The landing rules, in this case, are as follows:
• Carry out planting work in spring or summer, when the temperature outside is warm.
• Place the seeds, pre-soaked for a day in water, into a planting hole no more than 2 cm deep. There is another way - simply spread the seeds over the surface of the soil, pressing them slightly into the soil with your finger.
• The seeds are small, so do not cover them with a thick layer of soil.
• Moisten the area thoroughly.
• After 2-3 weeks, when small sprouts appear above the ground, plant them at the required distance and begin caring for the plantings.
(Adulted cinquefoil seedlings)
Planting cinquefoil seedlings is much more convenient! But when buying planting material, pay attention to its quality - traces of diseases and pests on the foliage are not allowed.
(Cinquefoil seedling)
This technique is simpler - you do not need to prepare planting material in advance and wait several years for flowering. Beginner gardeners should choose this agricultural technology.
Plant the bush like this:
• Treat the roots with a special compound for better rooting.
• Place the seedling so that its root collar is at ground level.
• Water the soil and sprinkle some pine needles or sawdust around the seedlings as mulch.
Rules for caring for cinquefoil
For experienced gardeners, cinquefoil grows for 10-15 years. This unpretentious plant gives a good increase in green mass over the season, which ensures rapid greening of the area - this especially applies to species with pale colored inflorescences.
The rules of care are simple:
• Watering . Water the cinquefoil infrequently - 1-2 times a month is enough. If the summer is hot, make sure that the soil around the bush does not dry out too much.
Only young seedlings need frequent watering - moisten the soil once a week. Do not use cold water - it can destroy the roots of the plant! The average watering rate is 1-1.5 buckets for each specimen.
To prevent moisture from evaporating quickly, regularly update the mulch layer under the plantings.
• Feeding . At the beginning of spring, mineral fertilizers (100-150 g) are applied under the bush - buy a special complex suitable for ornamental plants. Just before flowering, feed the cinquefoil with potassium and phosphorus - this will contribute to the durability of the buds and their brighter color. Closer to autumn, fertilize the flowerbed again with minerals.
• Loosening and weeding . Do not loosen the plantings deeply, since the root system of the cinquefoil is located close to the soil surface! Careless actions will lead to damage to the roots, so do not dig the soil deeper than 7 cm. Make sure that the flowerbed is not overgrown with weeds by regularly removing the growth from here. Mulch with a layer of 5 cm significantly reduces the growth of weeds.
• Trimming . Throughout the season, remove faded inflorescences and dried leaves from the branches - this way you will prolong flowering for a long time. During the season you need to carry out 2 decorative “haircuts” of the bush. If this is not done, the stems will grow greatly - there will be no decorative appearance. Remove from plants all damaged branches and stems directed towards the middle of the bush.
The crown can be given the most bizarre shape - a square, a circle, animal figures. Anti-aging pruning is carried out every 5 years in mid-April - the bush is cut almost to the very base. This way the plant is completely “renewed” - expect abundant flowering next season.
Before anti-aging pruning, do not forget to feed the plant with mineral or complex fertilizers.
Cinquefoil tolerates winter cold well . Moreover, its frost resistance only increases over the years. Therefore, in southern and temperate climates, the plant does not need to be additionally covered for the winter. Only in the north, in order to prevent the shoots from dying off, can care be taken to protect the bush. Bend the branches to the ground (you don’t have to do this) and cover them with polyethylene or non-woven material.
(One of the ways to cover cinquefoil)
To prevent gusts of wind from lifting such a “cloak,” secure the edges of the material with stones or stakes. According to the observations of experienced gardeners, all varieties with pink or red inflorescences necessarily require light winter shelter.
Methods for propagating cinquefoil
When you become a real pro in growing cinquefoil, you can expand the planting area. Now it is not necessary to buy seedlings from nurseries - for propagation, use those plants that are actively blooming in your flowerbed.
Gardeners propagate cinquefoil in several ways:
Source: https://rm-agro.com/lapchatka-alaya-vyrastit-semenami/
Reproduction methods
Why cinquefoil does not bloom - what to feed
Nepalese cinquefoil is an unpretentious plant in terms of care and propagation. There are several ways to grow it on your plot or dacha:
- Growing from seeds. It is quite possible to prepare the seed material yourself. Ripe seeds are collected in late summer - early autumn. They can be planted immediately as seedlings or stored in a dry place until spring. Seed germination lasts 2.5-3 years.
- Using cuttings. At the beginning of summer, healthy, strong shoots are cut from last year's stems and the lower leaves are removed from them. Some of the resulting seedlings are treated with a solution to stimulate root growth and planted in pots with substrate. To quickly root, it is better for the plant to create greenhouse conditions by covering it with film, a jar or a plastic bottle. Periodically, the seedling needs to be irrigated. After it takes root and strengthens, you can plant it in open ground as an independent plant.
- By division method. This method is suitable for plants that are at least 4 years old. In spring or autumn, in warm weather, a healthy shoot is selected, carefully separated from the mother bush and planted as an independent plant.
- By layering. This method is used most often because it is the easiest to perform. The cinquefoil shoot is cut, bent to the ground and secured with a special pin. Near the cut, the shoot is sprinkled with soil. After the buried shoot forms a normal root system, it can be disconnected from the parent plant and planted separately.
Grow scarlet cinquefoil from seeds
Cinquefoil (Potentilla) is a beautiful and delicate flower from the Rosaceae family. This plant can be either herbaceous or shrubby. Shrubby cinquefoil is popularly called cinquefoil or Kuril tea.
Some varieties of cinquefoil have medicinal properties, but more often this plant is more often used to create interesting landscape designs. Cinquefoil is great for decorating borders, alpine hills or hedges.
It is very popular among gardeners due to its simultaneous combination of unpretentiousness and extraordinary beauty.
Description of the cinquefoil plant
Cinquefoil can be either a perennial plant or subshrub, or an annual or biennial plant. Stems can be erect, widened, erect, and less often creeping. The leaves are multipartite, pinnate, and have a bright green or gray-green color.
Shrub cinquefoil can grow up to one and a half meters in height and up to 1 m in width. The flowers are collected in inflorescences of a false-umbellate or thyroid-paniculate shape. Flowers can be white, red, golden yellow, orange, pink and cream.
Flowering of cinquefoil begins in May and continues until September. The fruit is collected from many bare or hairy achenes.
Planting shrubby cinquefoil
Shrub cinquefoil seedlings must be planted in open ground in early spring in holes that should be twice the size of the root system of the seedling. The distance between gall seedlings should be at least thirty centimeters. A layer of lime gravel must be poured into the holes for planting seedlings in order to make it well drained.
Then you need to mix humus, leaf soil, sand, complex mineral fertilizer and pour the resulting mixture into the pits in a thick layer. Then place the seedling there and sprinkle it thoroughly with garden soil, compact it and water it generously. Within a month, shrubby cinquefoil requires abundant and regular watering.
In order for moisture to remain in the soil longer, it must be mulched with sawdust, bark or straw.
Possible diseases and pests
In general, the crop exhibits good resistance to diseases and pests. And cases of plant damage by certain diseases are a consequence of violation of the rules of caring for it.
The development of rust in cinquefoil is associated with excess moisture in the soil. When it appears, the plant will have to be treated with Bordeaux mixture or fungicides.
Among the pests, the cutworm, which feeds on flowers and leaves, is most capable of annoying the cinquefoil. Lack of timely treatment can lead to the death of the plant. To get rid of the cutworm, the bushes need to be treated twice with an insecticide solution.
Cinquefoil is widely used in folk medicine
Use in landscape design
Cinquefoil Miss Wilmont is used by modern landscape designers in both single and group plantings. Single plants are most often represented by plantings near borders, on empty ground under tall bushes with bare stems.
Complex compositions of cinquefoil with lupins, cornflowers, as well as plants that are distinguished by inexpressive flowering also look impressive in flower beds. The Legend cinquefoil is often found on alpine hills and among stones.
Cinquefoil Miss Willmott - one of the most colorful hybrids
Beneficial features
Due to the rich content of essential oils and vitamin C, the plant is used in folk medicine, especially for colds.
Cinquefoil Nepali, which is a shrubby perennial plant, is often used for growing at home in the garden. She will need a well-lit place and feeding at the end of the season. In return, the plant will reward you with long-term flowering of abundant flowers of bright colors. Nepalese cinquefoil Miss Wilmont looks especially elegant.
Due to its healing properties, the plant is used in folk medicine for various diseases, especially colds. And even an inexperienced gardener can grow cinquefoil.
Growing cinquefoil in the garden - tips for planting, care, pruning
Adding an article to a new collection
The cinquefoil genus is characterized by a wide variety of species (from low-growing herbs to stately shrubs), but planting and care in open ground for these plants are similar, because they are all unpretentious to grow.
We'll tell you what to look for. Only white cinquefoil (it grows well only in the shade), shiny cinquefoil (grows well in dry sandy soil on the south side of the site) and arctic cinquefoil (needs acidic soil) are particularly picky. Other types of cinquefoil prefer well-lit places where there is shadow in the afternoon (for example, from other plants). The soil should ideally be loose, slightly acidic, nutritious, well drained and with a small amount of lime.
