CINQUEFOIL

Family ROSACEAE
Potentilla species
Perennial

A genus comprising both shrubby and herbaceous perennials of eminent value as garden plants.
The foliage is elegant and strongly resembles that of the strawberry, although in many species it is more finely divided.
The hybrids have a long season of flowering and comprise many brilliant colours inherited from the species that were their parents.

Potentilla argyrophylla has erect stems, two to three feet high, with yellow flowers an inch across, borne on long pedicels.
It is a native of the Himalayas, and has been hybridised with, it is believed:
Potentilla atrosanguinea, purple,
Potentilla nepalensis, rosy-purple,
Potentilla villosa, golden yellow.
The garden hybrids include varieties with double as well as single flowers in form like those of the strawberry, but with a colour variation that ranges from white and yellow to shades of buff, salmon, clear rose and scarlet.
Easily grown in well-drained sandy soil in full sum.

Propagate by division or from seed.

The flowering season extends throughout the summer.

Potentilla
Hardy Perennial.
One foot to three feet.
Flowers of several colours, chiefly shades of red and yellow, June and July.

The Potentilla belongs to the Strawberry tribe, which it closely resembles in leaf and flower. There are various herbaceous species, excellent for the border, amongst which the best are Pyrenaica, yellow; Hopwoodiana, single, buff or apricot with rose centre, flowering from June to August; and Tonguei, orange and terra-cotta, growing about eighteen inches high, and flowering in July and August. But the most generally effective for the garden are the hybrid varieties. These grow about two feet high, have a base of glossy green leaves with grey under sides, and stiff branching stems bearing abundance of single or double flowers, either selfs in scarlet, crimson, maroon, yellow and orange, or striped and splashed with two of these colours. The single flowers have a golden centre, like a strawberry blossom; the doubles have at times a tendency to become thin and show the yellow middle.
The following are good double sorts:

Californie: large clear yellow.
Etna: scarlet.
Le Vésuve: red, yellow edge.
Toussaint Louverture: Maroon.
Purpurea lutea: crimson and yellow.
Versicolor: marbled red and yellow.

If plants are bought, they should be put out about the end of February; the soil should be deep and good; ordinary garden mould should be well dug, and have some well-rotted manure and leaf soil worked in. seed may be sown about June; the best return will be given by the use of boxes of potting-soil with a little sand, with the help of necessary shade and water.

The established plants may be increased by taking off pieces of root any time between October and March.
After four or five years in one place, they should be lifted, broken up, and the best pieces replanted on a fresh site.