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Cistus x purpureus (Orchid Rockrose) - A tough evergreen shrub that forms a 4- to 6-foot-tall mound that is usually slightly wider than tall - plants near beach tend to be shorter and even wider. It has narrow wavy-edged leaves up to 2" long that are dark green above and grey green below with a nice resinous scent. In the spring, and sometimes well into the summer appear the 3-inch-wide dark magenta-purple flowers with a red spot at the base of each of the petals and with dark yellow stamens in the middle.
Plant in full sun in a well-drained soil and irrigate only occasionally if at all - this is a drought tolerant plant. This is the best rockrose for seaside conditions as it can survive with salt spray, wind and sandy soil. It is also one of the hardiest of rockroses, tolerating temperatures down to around 15 degrees F. In cold tolerance tests conducted by Oregon State University, Cistus x purpureus showed little or no damage during the trial that ran from 2006 to 2009 where the coldest temperature recorded was 17° F.
Cistus x purpureus is a hybrid between Cistus ladanifer and Cistus creticus. It is an old garden hybrid that was listed in 1819 in Syndenham Edward's Garden Register of exotic plants cultivated in British Gardens (V.5:408) with the remark that it was universally known at the time as Cistus creticus "from which however it has been well distinguished by the industrious and sagacious Chevalier de Lamarck in his excellent Encyclopaedia Botanique." Liberty Hyde Bailey called it "one of the most beautiful rock roses" in his 1928 The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It trims back well and is useful as a low screening plant, mixed with other mediterranean-climate plants or as a bank planting, where stems often layer and root. The name Cistus is from the Greek word 'kistos' which was the name originally used to describe the plant in ancient Greece. We have grown and sold this attractive and useful plant since 1981.
The information displayed on this page about Cistus x purpureus is based on the research we have conducted about it in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about this plant as it grows in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant have performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we have received from others and welcome hearing from anyone with information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information that will aid others to better grow it.
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