Cistus × purpureus (Purple Rock Rose)

Purple Rock Rose is one of the most reliably beautiful and unfussy evergreen shrubs you can plant in a sunny, well-drained garden. A hybrid of Cistus ladanifer and Cistus creticus, it produces large, crinkle-petaled flowers in glowing rosy purple with prominent dark blotches at the base of each petal and a golden center. Each blossom lasts only a day, but the succession continues for several weeks in late spring, and the dense mound of narrow, resinous green leaves is attractive year-round.

This plant was made for the Oregon coast. Salt spray, wind, rocky slopes, sandy or gravelly soil, and extended dry periods are all conditions it handles without complaint. It is among the hardiest rockroses available, tolerating temperatures down to around 15 degrees Fahrenheit. Deer tend to leave it alone, and it requires no regular fertilizing once established. Avoid hard pruning; light trimming after flowering is all it needs to stay shapely.

Use Purple Rock Rose on sunny embankments, in dryland borders, rock gardens, or as a low-water groundcover on difficult sites.