Cistus 'Sunset'

This plant is evergreen and has cerise or incredibly vibrant pink flowers of about 5 cm in diameter. They are often known as Rockroses because they can grow in a variety of soils, including very poor ones and tolerate drought once established.

The cerise colour of the flowers is breathtaking. The blooms are made of tissue-paper thin petals that autumn away usually within a day after bursting from their buds. Fortunately, the buds are plentiful and just as one disappears, another flower takes its place.

It has green-grey foliage of leaves that are oblong with wavy margins and are approximately 5 cm in length. It is a relatively low-spreading shrub that only requires minimal amounts of pruning to remove seed heads. They are tolerant of winter temperatures down to -10°C.

As they are drought tolerant, they work very well as ground cover in drier patches along embankments and slopes. They are also very attractive in cottage gardens and work well in smaller city gardens or in courtyards.