Shrubby Cinquefoil - Dasiphora fruticosa

Dasiphora fruticosa, also known as Shrubby Cinquefoil, is a perennial flowering shrub native to Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, and also, it seems, McDonalds parking lots. Because of its compact growth habit and drought tolerance, this shrub has been bred for the landscaping trade, and its cultivar cousins now decorate many a fast-food establishment. I prefer the native type, myself. Rather than forming an architectural ball, the straight-species Shrubby Cinquefoil grows more like a bonsai, responding to the unique landscapes in which it grows with staggered waves of foliage tipped with yellow, or with wind-swept individual branches sporting textured bark and hung with flowers. 
 
This hardy, compact, shrub reaches 2 to 3 feet tall and just as wide in open spaces, narrower when in close quarters. It has pleasing yellow blossoms shaped like heirloom roses or strawberry flowers. The bloom time is satisfying - from July to September.
 
It prefers full sun and moist soil, especially lake shores and wetlands, but it is very drought-tolerant and will grow in loam, clay-loam, or sand, even beach sand if it can get its taproot down to the water table.  Preferring calcareous wetlands but tolerant of slight acidity, it is native to thickets, wet prairie, swamps, fens, and sandy or rocky shores.
 
Shrubby Cinquefoil is deer resistant. It is the host plant for the Dorcas Copper (Lycaena/Tharsalea dorcas) butterfly and a variety of moths. The U.P. sitings of this butterfly on iNaturalist coincide with locations I have found Shrubby Cinquefoil - along M-28 and in the Hiawatha National Forest. This is a well-mannered shrub that would add a layer of habitat and beauty to any landscape.