Potentilla tridentata (sibbaldiopsis) 'NUUK'

Three-toothed cinquefoil is not a very common plant. It has only recently been renamed to sibbaldiopsis tridentate owing to systemic phylogenetic work that places it closer to Sibbaldia genus. Still, I expect it will remain potentilla in the gardening world before this new classification becomes common. It originates in eastern Canada and Greenland, and is also found in elevated regions of north-eastern USA where it is becoming endangered. This variety was selected in Greeland and received the name of its capital: Nuuk.

Nuuk is a pretty evergreen perennial cinquefoil with glossy foliage and numerous white flowers. The leaves are distinctly divided into 3 leaflets, each of them decorated with 3 small lobes at the tip. They are rich green, glossy like a glacier, and turning wine red for autumn and winter. Single flowers are snow white, 5-pettaled, with white stamens, and come out from mid May until early summer atop partially prostrate, partially erected stems. Lower parts of the stems are rich carmine red before they become woody. Nuuk forms a neat and compact cushion, growing quite slowly, so if you are looking for a nice and wide carpet quickly grow more plants in a square meter (9-13).

This cinquefoil will grow in almost any soil apart from wet. It likes full sun or partial shade. No clipping, fertilizing, or watering is required which makes it an ideal plant for neglected rockeries and similar locations. Three-toothed cinquefoil is possibly the hardiest plant we ever had, tolerating the hardest frost of the coldest populated parts of Earth. It is fully hardy to abt. -51°C (USDA zone 1) and is suitable for outdoor pots.

Last update 29-01-2016