Today the purple (or orchid) rockrose, Cistus purpureus, began its show. This is one of my favorite shrubs: drought tolerant, evergreen, resinously aromatic foliage, and of course these flowers that go with any color I can imagine. I especially enjoy it with silver companions such as Salvia chamedryoides, Santolina, and Lavandula stoechas.
In fact, my only problem with the Cistus is that it gets big - up to 4' wide if left unchecked. I'll be heading mine back after its first bloom cycle, but we all know it's a futile effort. I've got 3 of these fellows in my Palo Alto garden, all runts adopted from the nursery's clearance shelf at the end of last summer. I must have been very good in a past life for such good garden karma now!
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