Cistus x purpureus

The rockroses bloom as if for a single day, and in a sense they do. Each papery flower of Cistus x purpureus lasts only from morning to evening before dropping, yet through late spring the shrub opens fresh bloom after fresh bloom, so the whole plant seems perpetually covered. The flowers are the draw: two to three inches wide, crushed-silk petals of pinky purple, each stamped at the base with a deep maroon blotch, a marking that earned the old garden name orchidspot rockrose. Rockroses are not roses, and are not related; the resemblance is only in the open, five-petalled face.

A hybrid of two Mediterranean species, Cistus ladanifer and Cistus creticus, this rockrose has been grown in gardens since the early nineteenth century and ranks among the hardiest of the clan. The narrow, dark green, faintly resinous leaves carry the aromatic, sun-warmed scent of the Mediterranean maquis, the same family of shrubs that yields labdanum, the fragrant resin long used in perfumery. Long a favorite in European and Californian gardens, this rockrose does well in the South too, given the one thing all rockroses insist on: a hot, sunny, airy site with very sharp drainage.

In the garden, treat rockrose as a sun-baked Mediterranean and ask little else. Plant on a hot bank, in a gravel or dry garden, along a wall, or at the front of a sunny border, in lean, fast-draining soil and full sun, free from crowding. Drought, wind, and salt spray are all taken in stride, which makes this shrub a natural for coastal and xeric plantings. Best treated as short-lived and not moved once settled, since rockroses resent transplanting; site them right the first time and enjoy the yearly flood of bloom.