Rock Rose

... or Cistus x purpureus for those with an Alan Titchmarsh like intelligence for all things floral.

It's currently growing like wildfire in my garden and the very name 'Rock Rose' explains why. Underneath all the stonework and patios lies a very rocky and insipid soil and these beautiful paper thin pinks just love it and ensure that year upon year, I've a swathe of colour to admire.

Oil rich Rock Roses cloak the arid Mediterranean region from Portugal to Italy. Early breeders of the 1820s sought to coax more cold hardy plants for cultivation in the north for oil production. Later M. Edouard Bernet of Antibes became the Cistus specialist and between 1860 and 1875 was responsible for over 230 new cultivars. Though long out of favor as the demand for oil evaporated, only the ornamental varieties such as C. x purpureus remain in cultivation.

Oil harvested from the rockrose plants was known as labdanum, a valuable alternative to rare whale ambergris in the ancient perfume trade.