Potentilla fruticosa Goldfinger - Shrubby Cinquefoil

Potentilla fruticosa 'Goldfinger' is a large, shrub-like potentilla, producing beautiful large flowers in cups of bright yellow. This robust variety bears dark green foliage with a slightly silvery silky underside, which forms a dazzling setting for its corollas that resemble yellow sweetbriars. This potentilla is easy to grow in flower beds and also in large pots on a terrace. It is a very rewarding plant, and easy to cultivate in any well-drained soil.

Potentilla fruticosa is a woody shrub that belongs to the Rosaceae family, just like roses. The 'Goldfinger' variety is a deciduous and dense shrub, measuring about 1.20 m (3.9 ft) in all directions. It forms a bush with a very rounded habit, with slender and ramified branches. Its foliage is deciduous, the small size of the leaves cut into narrow leaflets gives a beautiful lightness to the dark green silhouette. A slight white hairiness, on the underside of the leaves, gives a silky and silvery appearance. Its delicate flowers are in the shape of cups with a diameter of 5 cm (2 in), with five bright yellow, slightly ochre petals and golden stamens. The abundant flowering, starting in May/June and ending with the first frosts, if the autumn is mild, is more intense at the beginning of summer, then loses some of its vigour during the season, depending on the coolness of the soil.

In the sun, potentillas will deliver flowers with a bright colour. In partial shade, the colour will be slightly less intense. Worry-free plants, generously flowering and beautifully coloured, potentillas are ideal for brightening up the garden or balcony, sustainably and effortlessly. With their rose-like appearance and their very modest requirements, they can be used in multiple ways and installed everywhere: in flower beds, rockeries, borders, low hedges, and pots. They suit most climates and any well-drained soil.

They will provide a stunning display when combined with Dahlias, Iris germanica, Achilleas, Gaura, and Rudbeckias. They also suit planting alongside Mediterranean plants (Lavender, Rosemary, Cistus, Fennel, Helichrysum, and Teucrium), for a warm and fragrant atmosphere. To create a striking scene, they can be combined with plants with a more slender or tousled habit (Phormiums, Grasses, Euphorbias, and Crocosmias). On a slope or a rockery, where they will be ideally placed if your garden soil is heavy and clayey, they blend with dwarf or creeping Conifers, creeping Ceanothus or ground cover and landscape roses.