Potentilla

Bright flowers cover shrubby Potentilla from early June until fall. The shrub grows only 1-3 ft. tall, but what it lacks in size it makes up in ornamental impact. Use it as a foundation plant, as an addition to borders, in mass plantings and as a ground cover. Potentilla needs full sun or light shade. A little shade during the heat of the day keeps the plant blooming longer. It prefers moist, fertile, well-drained soil, but tolerates, clay, rocky, alkaline, dry or poor soils. Strong disease and insect resistance makes growing Potentilla easy. At the end of the flowering season, cut out the old branches at ground level or rejuvenate the shrub by cutting the entire plant back to ground level and allowing it to regrow. After a few years, it takes on an awkward shape unless you cut all the way back.