Native plants for a Cape Cod garden

Also known as, and “potentially” re-classified as Sibbaldiopsis tridentata, this species of cinquefoil grows wild over most of the Northern Hemisphere, including the high arctic regions (i.e. Greenland). Talk about being resilient – the plant can withstand temperatures as low as -40 degrees Fahrenheit, while on the other side of the spectrum it tolerates drought really well. Despite those qualities, the plant is endangered in as many as 5 US states – Connecticut to our south being one of them. Three-toothed cinquefoil will over time grow into a low mat of shiny evergreen leaves. In late spring and summer it produces smallish white flowers. This plant can be used in many different ways – you can put it in a sunny rock garden, or apply it, as I have, as groundcover in your shady woodland garden. I’ve found it to be an easy transplant and adapter of new territory (as opposed to bearberry which in my experience here on Cape Cod often does not survive the winter or will shed leaves or discolor when the soil is too dry or too wet)