Cistus x argenteus Silver Pink - Rockrose

Cistus argenteus Silver Pink is a charming variety of rockrose that forms a beautiful ground cover in dry soil. This small evergreen bush offers abundant flowering in spring, with light corollas resembling delicate pink roses with a silver sheen, illuminated by a white halo around a bouquet of yellow stamens. The fragile and ephemeral flowers continuously renew themselves on this well-rounded shrub. Perfectly adapted to drought and salty winds, this plant will thrive in a dry rock garden or on a sun-drenched slope. It is essential in an authentic Mediterranean dry garden.

The Silver Pink rockrose (synonym Cistus x lenis 'Grayswood Pink') belongs to the family of rockroses and is a horticultural hybrid obtained in England around 1910 by Hillier Nurseries. Its parentage is complex and includes Cistus albidus, C. creticus, and C. laurifolius. Its cold resistance is estimated at -10/-12°C (14/10.4°F) once well-rooted in well-draining soil. All these plants, native to Mediterranean regions, are perfectly adapted to intense heat and very dry summers.

This well-branched shrub has a bushy and wide habit. It will reach about 75cm (29.5in) in height, with a spread of 1m (3.3ft) or sometimes more. Its growth is relatively fast, and the plant ages fairly well in poor soil, living for 12 to 15 years. Flowering occurs in spring or early summer depending on the climate, from May to late June and lasts about a month. The pastel flowers, with open round corollas, measure 4 to 4.5cm (1.6 to 1.8in) in diameter and are enhanced at the centre by numerous bright yellow stamens. The petals slightly overlap. The flowers last only one day, covering the ground with their petals in the late afternoon, but will already be replaced by the next morning. The evergreen foliage consists of small, thick, wavy, downy and elongated leaves measuring 3 to 5cm (1.2 to 2in) long. They are dark green-grey in spring and become lighter and greyer in summer due to heat and drought. The young shoots are aromatic, and the fuzzy flower buds are tinted with reddish-brown.

This bush is a beautiful ground cover for arid situations. Create a group to accompany your rockrose by mixing the foliage and scents of lavender, rosemary, thyme, and shrubby salvias, as well as aromatic perennials. Add California poppies and drought-tolerant euphorbias to bring some dynamism to your compositions.

The leaves of aromatic rockrose varieties produce labdanum, a sticky and fragrant resin with medicinal properties, widely used in perfumery. After a very hot day, they give off a unique scent mixed with marjoram, lavender, thyme, and rosemary.