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Yellow Tundra Flower Facts
Yellow Tundra Flower Facts. This is one little shrub that gets around. Yellow tundra flower is just one of dozens of common names used around the globe for shrubby cinquefoil (Dasiphora fruticosa ssp. floribunda). Termed a "circumpolar" species, this world wanderer is native to the northern regions of North America, Europe and Asia.
This is one little shrub that gets around. Yellow tundra flower is just one of dozens of common names used around the globe for shrubby cinquefoil (Dasiphora fruticosa ssp. floribunda). Termed a "circumpolar" species, this world wanderer is native to the northern regions of North America, Europe and Asia.
High Five
Five is the number to remember with shrubby cinquefoil. The name "cinquefoil" is an approximation of the French words "cinq feuilles," meaning five leaves, and refers to the five small gray-green leaflets in each whorl. The bright yellow flowers bloom for five months, May to September, with each blossom comprised of five buttery petals. The shrub grows into a mound some 5 feet wide and almost as high.
No Fear
You can't pick your family, and the fact that shrubby cinquefoil is related to the rose (Rosa spp., zones 4B to 10B) does not make it a high maintenance shrub. Like most native plants, it is a survivor and tolerates virtually any adverse condition in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 through 7. Bring them on: shade, drought, dry soil, wet soil, alkaline soil, clay soil, swampy soil, rabbits, deer and air pollution; cinquefoil handles them all.
Best Guest
When cinquefoil's long bloom-time and easy-care ways earn it a garden-party invitation, it proves a welcome guest. Put it in the sun or partial shade, ignore it after establishment, it continues to thrive to the delight of passing butterflies. Vigorous and floriferous, the multi-branched shrub is evergreen in warmer climes, deciduous elsewhere. Its searching roots provide excellent erosion control and better yet, it is pest and maintenance free, according to experts at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
Variations on a Theme
The species plant makes a great low hedge or serves well as a foundation plant mound for a perennial garden, but you can opt for a fancier version. Arc-en-ciel cinquefoil (Potentilla "Arc En Ciel") is a blaze in the summer, the many, layered petals a fiery red with yellow edges. Plant this trailer in zones 4 through 8. For deep pink flowers with crimson eyes, try "Miss Willmott" (Potentilla nepalensis "Miss Willmott") in zones 2 through 9. Don't be alarmed if the scientific name on cultivars looks different than the species, since Potentilla floribunda and Potentilla fruticosa ssp. floribunda are considered synonyms for Dasiphora fruticosa ssp. floribunda. Note that cultivars can lack the tough qualities that make the wildflower low care, including drought and pest resistance.
