Potentilla bicolor

At a glance

Lifecycle: Perennial (hardy)
Exposure: Full sun
Frost limit: −23.3 °C

Cultivation

An easily grown plant, succeeding in a well-drained loam, preferring a position in full sun but tolerating shade. Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer.

Propagation

Seed - sow early spring or autumn in a cold frame. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. This is a hybrid species and it will not come true from seed. Division in spring. Larger divisions can be planted out direct into their permanent positions. We have found that it is better to pot up the smaller divisions and grow them on in light shade in a cold frame until they are well established before planting them out in late spring or early summer.

Edible uses

Root - cooked.

Habitat

Not known in the wild.

Native range

A hybrid of garden origin, P. atrosanguinea x P. argyrophylla.