Unknown silver plant

[shelagh]

Can anyone identify this for me please.  We liked it so much we were given cuttings but the gardener couldn't find a label.

[Maggi Young]

 What a beauty.
It looks a little like Geranium harveyi - a  smart little South African - but I'm not at all sure.

Will try to find a photo of  Geranium harveyi to compare it with.....


edit :  try this page   http://www.diggingdog.com/pages2/plantpages.php/p-1265

[shelagh]

Looks pretty good Maggi.

[Maggi Young]

It's close, Shelagh - but I'm not convinced - yours is much more silvery and I think a more finely defined shape 
We need a South African/ geranium expert........

[bob worsley]

Potentilla calabra is our best guess.  Yellow flowers in June/July?

[fermi de Sousa]

It's close, Shelagh - but I'm not convinced - yours is much more silvery and I think a more finely defined shape 
We need a South African/ geranium expert........

Not an expert ("x" being an unknown quantity and "spurt" being a drip under pressure!) but I'd say it's too disected to be G. harveyi; Bob's suggestion sounds good.
cheers
fermi

[Lesley Cox]

Yes, too spiky and silver to be G. harveyi, although it's a couple of years since I saw mine so maybe don't remember accurately. It died in frost in a hardish winter. Others in other gardens came through OK.

[Maggi Young]

Potentilla calabra is our best guess.  Yellow flowers in June/July?

 Aha! Southern Italy rather than S.A.?!! Sounds good, Bob.

For this silvery little potentilla the indersides of the leaves should be really furry, is that right?

[Brian Ellis]

There's a good picture of the foliage of Geranium harveyi here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16155010@N04/9593225093/#

so I should say it is more likely to be the potentilla, funnily enough we were given a bit of what I thought was Geranium harveyi this summer, it hasn't flowered but is a dead ringer for the foliage above, the leaf is max just under 1 inch.

[shelagh]

OK so I was a bit previous, I'll go and write another label.   The gardener who gave us the cuttings has looked at the forum and she says go with Potentilla calabra.

Thanks to you all.