Van Hevelingen Herb Nursery

Cistus ×purpureus

Common name(s): rockrose

Description: evergreen shrub; a hybrid known only to cultivation but favored for its uncommon combination of large pink-purple flowers (9 cm.) with crimson blotches. Narrow, dark green foliage and dense, rounded growth with large flowers in late spring and summer. Parentage: C. ladanifer × C. creticus.

Height: to 6 ft. Spread: to 6 ft.

Position: full sun and lean, well-draining soil

Uses: ornamental

Winter Hardiness: to 5 F and below

Drought: adapted to 5 months of summer drought

Care: tip-pruning after flowering (especially in the first couple of years) will result in a more attractive, compact plant. Cistus generally won't tolerate or regenerate from hard pruning of older, woody growth.

Notes: Cistus ×purpureus is a complex, intersectional hybrid that rarely occurs in cultivation and currently has only been known to occur a total of three times, all in the garden of French collector, Paul Pécherat. We offer the most common clone, sometimes erroneously sold as 'Betty Taudevin', which has dark pink flowers with blotches. The other two forms are Cistus ×purpureus nf. strictus which has paler pink flowers with blotches and Cistus ×purpureus nf. holorhodos has entirely pink petals; both are rare in cultivation and likely not found in the U.S. 'Alan Fradd' is a white-flowering sport of the common clone.

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