How to Grow a Rock Rose (Cistus)

The Rock Rose (Cistus) is a handsome bush-forming plant that covers itself with single, rose-like flowers. Some can grow as lower ground covers while others form neat, mounded bushes to five feet tall and wide. Here are some tips on how to grow a rock rose.

Instructions

1. The Rock Rose (Cistus) is a decorative plant that grows in full sun. It is tolerant of dry, stony soils that lack organic matter. Rock Roses look rich and ornamental even in hot dry areas. The Cistus is one of those plants you can use in a drought tolerant garden that can make a landscape look lush and colorful. It will also grow well on coastlines despite the influence of salt air.

2. 

   Try growing a pink Rock Rose like "Sunset" to form a well-behaved bush that needs little to no clipping. The hot pink flowers cover the evergreen leaves turning the whole three-foot-tall shrub sparkling pink in the springtime.

3. 

   Or try the low growing Cistus salvifolious to cover wide spaces with a low mat of china white flowers and evergreen leaves that form rolling mounds at less than a foot tall.

4. There are a couple of Rock Roses, Cistus ladanifer and Cistus purpurea, that have big single pink or white flowers with a dark red blotch at the base of each petal. Both grow in deep green rounded shrubs from three to five feet in height and width.

5. 

   Rock Roses need excellent drainage and are tough enough to withstand desert sun and hot temperatures. Use them in mixed gardens with other plants or dot them around sparsely planted areas. Group them in hedges or parade them formally along a pathway. Integrate the Rock Rose in a natural style planting. It will blend in comfortably with native plants and grow well with little water. When putting together a garden, consider growing the Rock Rose for rich year-round green leaves and showy spring flowers. It isn't difficult to grow a Rock Rose, and the beauty will be well worth it.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Landscape design and gardening information
• eHow Home and Garden Topic Guide