Rock Rose Plants

Cistus corbariensis: Rock Rose, 2 Litre Pot Grown Plants

A bushy evergreen shrub, quite low and spreading when mature, whose profuse dark pink buds open into white flowers with yellow centres in June and July.

Browse our other coastal hedging, or all of our garden shrubs.

Features:

• White flowers, yellow centre. June-July
• Evergreen
• Grows on the coast, low windbreak
• Great for containers, rockeries
• Any poor, well drained soil.
• Full sun & shelter.
• Hardiness H4
• To 1m x 2m

Growing Rock Roses

These hard scrabble plants only need good drainage from their soil, so they are happy in rockeries and pots with quite poor fertility. Above ground, they want full sun, and although they can be grown as a coastal windbreak, a decent amount of shelter from wind will leave them looking much more attractive. Its hardiness rating of H4 is tough enough for most of the UK, but not recommended for the coldest parts of inland Scotland.

In Your Garden Design

All rock roses are ideal for a gravel garden or rockery, which is where you tend to see most of them, other than on the coast. This particularly pretty spreading plant makes a strong statement alongside Convolvulus cneaorum, or in a large container paired with an early flowering Salvia like 'Joy', Lavender and/or Convolvulus mauritanicus.
Euphorbia, thanks to its abundance of flowers, is a stunning summer feature with Cistus, perhaps with a row of dwarf box edging at the front. Alternatively, stagger different coloured varieties of them at varied levels in a rock garden. Potentilla fruticosa is a lovely companion plant.

Did You Know?

Cistus originate from the Mediterranean, where they grow wild in rocky, dry areas.
There are 25 species in the genus, and most secrete a sweet-smelling essential oil called Labdanum, which has been used medicinally for centuries to heal and soothe - Cistus ladaniferus is the best for oil extraction. In aromatherapy, it is a calming influence associated with prayer or meditation, and on the skin it is astringent, so it tightens and tones.