This vigorous and floriferous larger arching Cistus has small flowers just 4cm wide but every white flower has a maroon basal blotch around a yellow center. This is one of the most prolific Rockroses for quantity and length of flowers. Masses of small flowers are intricate and a shrub in full sun is an amazing tapestry of color until about 4pm when all the flower petals drop at once. Excellent hardiness to cold as one of its hybrid parents is the very cold hardy Cistus monspeliensis. Evergreen leaves are long and thin and sweet with the resiny perfume of sweet balsam. This resin (Ladinum) that covers all the foliage imparts a certain amount of fire retardance. To 4′ x 4′ tall and arching in full sun and average soil with regular water to establish. In subsequent years it can take much less. Normal deer resistance and rabbit resistance is good. Dense habit avoids splitting and flailing. Excellent shrub for dry gardens, areas beyond the sprinkler. A great shrub for rural areas- very tough. Very well adapted to our climate. The calyx which remains turns a vivd red and holds in late summer and autumn.
