Drought-tolerant sun roses

With drier summers becoming more common, many people are looking for plants that will survive in dry soils with little rainfall - and cistus are an answer, says Graham Rice

- Graham Rice

WE are all becoming more aware of the fact that, in many areas, our summers are becoming drier and we need to conserve water. Drought-tolerant plants are a big part of the gardener’s approach to this problem and perhaps the most useful of all drought-tolerant shrubs are the cistus, also called sun roses.

Like wild roses, the flowers of sun roses have five colourful petals surrounding a golden centre. But sun roses are evergreen, often with aromatic foliage, and are neater in growth than roses. They have no thorns and like hot, dry, and well-drained conditions. They hate shade and wet soil. Only the flowers are similar. They open in early and midsummer and while each flower lasts only a day, they come in great profusion.

Mediterranean-style conditions

In general, sun roses prefer mild winters and are generally hardy so long as particularly cold and windy sites are avoided. Wild sun roses grow naturally in the Mediterranean region, so are adapted to grow in other areas with similar climates featuring mild, relatively wet winters and hot, dry summers. Their ability to grow in poor, stony soils means they grow well in coastal and gravel gardens.

I have also included rock roses (halimium) in this article, which are closely related to sun roses. They look similar and enjoy the same conditions, but feature bright-yellow flowers. There are even some hybrids between the two groups and all appreciate the same conditions.

Diverse group