Slender Cinquefoil (Potentilla gracilis)
Slender Cinquefoil is a pretty and tough little native in the rose family. It's beautiful, delicate looking yellow flowers attract loads of pollinators from syrphid flies, to butterflies, and clouds of tiny native bees! It's a host plant for the Purplish Copper and the Two-Banded Checker Skipper butterflies, as well as, the Strawberry Crown moth.
Slender Cinquefoil is very easy to start from seed, is extremely forgiving in the garden, and is very long lived. It can take quite a lot of abuse and continue to grow happily. It can tolerate a wide variety of growing conditions and soils including full to part sun, seasonal flooding, drought, weed competition, clay, gravel, etc. Water to establish the first season then let it go with seasonal rainfall. Slender Cinquefoil makes a lovely ground cover for 3+ seasons, only really dying back after a few hard Winter freezes, then quickly bouncing back once again! Most of the year it grows in a pretty, neat little mound ~1 ft tall x 1.5 ft wide. While in bloom it can rise up to ~2 ft tall with an open airy flower habit.
In NW Oregon, Slender Cinquefoil begins to bloom around the end of May and continues to bloom into July. This can be extended later into the summer with supplemental irrigation.
Each seed packet contains 100 seeds and germination instructions are included.
Slender Cinquefoil at a glance
- Average growth dimensions - 2 ft tall x 1-2 ft wide
- Dormancy - Winter deciduous - semi deciduous
- Plant type - Perennial herb
- Sun - Full sun - part shade
- Water - Wet - dry
- Flowering time - May - August
- Flower color - Yellow
- Soil preference - Highly adaptable