Potentilla alba

Potentilla alba, also known as White Cinquefoil, is a botanical species widespread in mountainous areas in southern Europe. This small alpine perennial has a low and spreading habit, and blooms in summer, offering small white flowers in the shape of flat cups. They flourish on digitate and villous foliage, dark green on the upper side and silver on the underside, pressed against the ground. Its young spring shoots are beautifully silvered. This very hardy and deciduous species will thrive in a rockery or a wild garden, planted in a not overly dry, even calcareous, stony or clayey soil, in full sun.

Potentilla alba, along with strawberries, belongs to the Rosaceae family. Its natural habitat is mountainous, mostly composed of limestone meadows and open woods. It is a perennial plant with prostrate stems that forms a very low tuft, not exceeding 10 cm (4 in) in height, with a spread of about 30 cm (12 in). Its foliage is its main asset. In spring, young shoots covered with white bristles appear, giving them a beautiful silvery reflection. They unfold into leaves measuring 4 to 8 cm (2 to 3 in) in diameter, divided into 5 rectangular lobes also covered in bristles. The upper side of the lamina is a matte dark green, while the underside, covered in fuzz, is more whitish. In May-June, the plant produces inflorescences in the form of light panicles, composed of white flowers with 5 lobed petals, 2 to 3 cm (1 in) wide.

Potentilla alba is not a spectacular plant, but it has the charm of wild plants and is easy to grow in poor, calcareous or stony soils, as long as they are not too dry. It is a perfect plant for borders, in the company of paniculate saxifrages or small sedums. It is also very beautiful in rockeries, accompanied by pasque flowers, Waldsteinia ternata, Fragaria Pink Panda, grey artemisias, and teucriums, etc. It can also be associated with creeping gypsophila, Saponaria ocymioïdes, perennial geranium Philippe Vapel, garden valerian, and Dianthus erinaceus, etc.