Shrubby cinquefoil
Dasiphora fruticosa · Rosaceae
A small, twiggy, very hardy shrub with fine leaves and buttercup-like flowers in yellow, white, pink or orange from June to frost.
- Size
- 3 ft tall, 3½ ft wide
- Zones
- 2 to 7
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Early June to mid September
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Anchor
A bed built around shrubby cinquefoil
The planner designed this bed around shrubby cinquefoil when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why shrubby cinquefoil stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Shrubby cinquefoil × 1, yellow
- 2 Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch' × 8, pink
- 3 Wild strawberry × 5, white
- 4 Swamp milkweed 'Ice Ballet' × 3, white
- 5 Oriental poppy 'Patty's Plum' × 3, purple
- 6 Palm sedge × 3, green leaves
- 7 Hyacinth 'Delft Blue' × 12, blue
- 8 Star of Persia × 4, purple
Why this plant
- The only yellow. The one hot colour: every other flower here is cool or neutral.
- Part of the bed's structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down. So does palm sedge.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 3 ft it is one of the taller plants here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to oriental poppy 'Patty's Plum' (2½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A shrub is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- In flower for 16 weeks. From early June to mid September.
- Closes the season. For its last five weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 5 of the 6 groups (83%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The bed is balanced: the left half carries 59% of the visual weight and the right half 41%. The scheme leans cool (pink, purple and blue) and uses yellow for warmth, with white to calm things between them.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 6 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where shrubby cinquefoil goes in a border
At 3 ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium tall (2½ to 3 ft).
Its job: anchor. A shrub that gives the bed permanent structure. Planted singly, as soon as the front edge is laid; everything else is arranged around it.
One of the longest-flowering shrubs for the North. It is at its best in cool summers, and flowers fade in heat. Shear it by a third in early spring.
- Flowers all summer in cold climates
- Low hedges
- Poor, dry soil
What to plant with shrubby cinquefoil
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Catmint 'Walker's Low': in flower together for 15 weeks, from early June; spires rising out of its mound.
- Salvia 'May Night': purple against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for six weeks; spires rising out of its mound.
- Blue fescue: its blue-green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; low enough (10 in) to stand in front of it.
Questions about shrubby cinquefoil
Does shrubby cinquefoil need sun or shade?
Shrubby cinquefoil grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does shrubby cinquefoil grow in?
USDA zones 2 to 7. It is hardy to zone 2, which means it survives winter nights down to about −40 °F (−40 °C).
Above zone 7 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does shrubby cinquefoil flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early June to mid September. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 3 | Mid June to mid September |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Mid June to mid September |
| Zone 5 | Early June to mid September |
| Zone 6 | Early June to mid September |
| Zone 7 | Late May to mid September |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should shrubby cinquefoil be planted?
3 ft (90 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 3½ ft (100 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 3 ft (90 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many shrubby cinquefoil plants do I need?
At 3 ft apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 1 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 4 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 4 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one, planted singly: it is the bed's structure, and everything else is arranged around it.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is shrubby cinquefoil poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat shrubby cinquefoil?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer and rabbits. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What flowers after shrubby cinquefoil?
Shrubby cinquefoil is over by mid September. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Montauk daisy: from mid September to late October, 3 ft tall.
- October daphne: from mid September to late October, 8 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does shrubby cinquefoil look like in winter?
Shrubby cinquefoil drops its leaves and stands as bare branches. That is when to see its shape, and to prune it if it needs pruning.
Is shrubby cinquefoil good for bees and butterflies?
Shrubby cinquefoil is visited by pollinators, bees, specialist bees, butterflies and beneficial insects.
It is native to the United States and Canada.
More Dasiphora
- Shrubby cinquefoil 'Abbotswood' Dasiphora fruticosa 'Abbotswood'
- Shrubby cinquefoil 'Goldfinger' Dasiphora fruticosa 'Goldfinger'
In these guides
- Plants for slopes and banks
- Rabbit-resistant plants
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Garden plants native to Canada
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants for bees
- Shrubs under 4 feet for small gardens
- Long-flowering plants: 12 weeks or more
- Plants for a white garden
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 3 ft (90 cm) tall, 3½ ft (100 cm) wide
- Plant
- 3 ft (90 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium tall (2½ to 3 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Early June to mid September; open bowls; yellow, white, pink, orange
- Leaves
- Fine texture, deciduous; green
- Shape
- Rounded, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 2 to 7
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Rosaceae
- Comes from
- Temp. Northern Hemisphere
- Attracts
- Pollinators, bees, specialist bees, butterflies, beneficial insects
- Stands up to
- Deer, rabbits, drought, poor soil, erosion
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.