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Potentilla reptans

creeping cinquefoil

© RHS

  • Other common names creeping cinquefoil
    common cinquefoil

    five finger grass
    five leaf
    Mary's five fingers
    sink-field

    see more

  • Family Rosaceae

  • Genus Potentilla can be herbaceous perennials, deciduous shrubs, or annuals, with palmately or pinnately divided leaves and solitary or clustered, saucer-shaped, 5-petalled flowers appearing over a long period

  • Details P. reptans is a low-growing perennial that spreads from its creeping stems, rooting at the nodes. Serrated, hairless and rounded leaves are held in groups of five to seven. Yellow flowers, like flat buttercups, are borne in the leaf axils throughout summer into early autumn

  • Plant range Europe to Himalaya

Characteristics

  • Foliage Deciduous

  • Habit Mat forming

  • Hardiness

    Hardiness ratings

    All ratings refer to the UK growing conditions unless otherwise stated. Minimum temperature ranges (in degrees C) are shown in brackets

    • H1a - Under glass all year (>15C)
    • H1b - Can be grown outside in the summer (10 - 15)
    • H1c - Can be grown outside in the summer (5 - 10)
    • H2 - Tolerant of low temperatures, but not surviving being frozen (1 to 5)
    • H3 - Hardy in coastal and relatively mild parts of the UK (-5 to 1)
    • H4 - Hardy through most of the UK (-10 to -5)
    • H5 - Hardy in most places throughout the UK even in severe winters (-15 to -10)
    • H6 - Hardy in all of UK and northern Europe (-20 to -15)
    • H7 - Hardy in the severest European continental climates (< -20)

    H7

Colour

Sunlight

  • Full Sun

  • Aspect South-facing or West-facing or East-facing

  • Exposure Exposed or Sheltered

Soil

  • Loam

    Loam

  • Sand

    Sand

  • Clay

    Clay

  • Chalk

    Chalk

  • MoistureWell-drained, Moist but well-drained

  • SoilLoam, Sand, Clay, Chalk

  • pHAcid, Alkaline, Neutral

Size

  • Ultimate height 0.1-0.5 metres

  • Ultimate spread 0.1-0.5 metres

  • Time to ultimate height 1-2 years

How to grow

Cultivation Found naturally in hedgerows, sand dunes, grassy places and rough ground

Propagation Propagate from creeping stems or propagate by seed

Suggested planting locations and garden types Wildflower meadow

How to care

Pruning None required

Pests Usually trouble free

Diseases Usually trouble-free

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