Rock Rose

Rock Rose 'Silver Pink' (Cistus x argenteus 'Silver Pink') is the shrub for the dry, sunny, difficult bed where nothing has held on. It makes a rounded mound about 80cm high and a metre across, covered through spring and early summer in soft pink flowers over grey green foliage. Its real value is what it does not need: no watering once established, no feeding, no good soil.

Why you'll love it

• Genuinely dry tolerant. A Mediterranean shrub built for long hot summers. Once the roots are down it lives on rain, and summer watering does more harm than good.
• Flowers by the hundred. Each bloom lasts a day, but fresh buds keep coming for weeks, so the mound stays covered in pink.
• Silver foliage carries the off season. Grey green leaves hold their colour year round against sandstone, gravel and rendered walls.
• Exposed sites suit it. Salt tolerant, heat tolerant and untroubled by poor stony ground, and the open flowers are easy work for bees and butterflies.

Where it works best

Mass planting and borders. Plant 80cm apart. The mounds knit into a continuous low band within two seasons without crowding each other into bare centres.

Rockeries and retaining walls. The mounding shape looks natural tumbling between rocks or along the top of a wall, and the sharp drainage there is exactly what it prefers.

Coastal gardens. Use it on the exposed side of a garden where salt wind burns softer shrubs, again at 80cm spacing.

Growing Rock Rose 'Silver Pink' in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun, unfiltered, all day. It performs in Mediterranean, warm temperate, cool temperate and arid or semi-arid gardens, and is frost hardy once established. It is not a plant for the humid tropics or wet subtropics, where warm wet summers rot the crown.

Soil. Poor, gritty and free draining. Do not improve the bed with compost or manure: rich soil produces soft growth, fewer flowers and a shorter life. Heavy clay needs a raised mound or a different plant.

Water and feed. Water weekly for the first summer to get the roots down, then stop. Established plants resent summer irrigation, so keep it clear of a lawn zone or a January drip line. Gravel mulch beats bark.

Pruning. Tip prune lightly straight after flowering to hold the mound tight. Never cut into bare old wood, because rock roses do not reshoot from it. Expect eight to twelve years, then replace rather than renovate.

What to expect when it arrives

It is grown in a single size, tube stock, which is the right way to buy it. Young rock roses transplant far better than older container plants, and a tube reaches flowering size in its second spring. Each one arrives as a bushy seedling with a few branches, not a finished shrub.

Tube stock is light and compact, so it travels well. Delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95 and a minimum order of $300 before delivery, which with tube stock means ordering enough to cover the bed properly. Every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Compare it against other drought tolerant plants for dry gardens.
• See the range of coastal and salt tolerant shrubs.
• Browse companions in our rockery plant selection.
• Read our guide to planning a coastal feature garden.

Common questions

How far apart should I plant it?

Eighty centimetres apart for a dense mass planting. Each plant fills roughly a metre of width, so that spacing closes the run in two seasons while leaving air between the crowns.

Why do the flowers only last a day?

That is normal for the genus. Each bloom opens in the morning and drops its petals by evening, with fresh buds replacing it every day for weeks on end.

Can I grow it in a pot?

Yes, in a pot of at least 400mm with a gritty free draining mix and no saucer underneath. It wants less water than most potted shrubs, so check the mix is dry first.