In the garden with Gerry Daly: sunny roses

Sun rose is a common name given to cistus, which is the correct botanical name and the one usually used. But sun rose is a good name because it is descriptive. The flowers look like a flat, single rose and it is indeed a sun lover. The various species are native to the Mediterranean region, stretching from Spain to Greece. It does a lot of its growing during the mild winter and spring period in those areas and flowers later here in our cooler conditions. Cistus is not very hardy but it is not as tender as is often thought.

In its native regions, whole hillsides can be covered with cistus bushes, a remarkable sight in flower, just like heather on Irish hillsides in summer. The secret to learn from those sun-baked hills is the extreme drainage of the soils it thrives in. So it is quite hardy as long as it is grown on dry well-drained ground.

On heavy ground, it succumbs fairly easily because the plant does not get a good chance to toughen up and fully ripen its stems and save plenty of sugar in its sap to avoid freezing.

However, it normally resists wind very well, being native to very exposed hillsides. Most kinds have small, hairy or sticky leaves, all well adapted to preventing moisture loss and wind damage. Some kinds are tall, but others are as low as heather bushes and are often seen not far from heather bushes on Mediterranean hillsides.

There are several lovely garden kinds and they are widely available, even if not very widely grown. The two most commonly available are Cistus corbariensis, which has large white flowers, and Cistus purpureus, with large purple flowers with darker blotches. Cistus pulverulentus has vivid magenta-pink flowers. Pale pink-flowered with greyish leaves is Cistus skanbergii. One of the most beautiful of the lot is Cistus ladanifer, with large, purple-blotched white flowers. This species also produces a scented resin, called ladanum, on the leaves and young stems. On a warm day, this makes a very pleasant scented atmosphere in the garden. This resin-scented substance is used as part of the base of perfumes.

Apart from species and hybrids, there are named varieties, such as the small and neat “Grayswood Pink”, masses of soft pink flowers against grey-green foliage; “Silver Pink” with bright pink flowers, “Peggy Sammons” with purple-pink flowers; ‘Sunset’ is a neat compact form of Cistus pulverulentus with grey-green leaves, a widely available and reliable plant. This and “Silver Pink” would be two relatively hardy varieties for areas where the challenge of frost might be greater, but the key to success, even with these hardier kinds, is very free-draining soil in sunlight. The flowers of all of these kinds do not last long but they are produced in large numbers over a period of many weeks.

All of the sun roses have evergreen foliage, in common with many Mediterranean plants because it gives them a quick start in spring to grow and flower before the baking heat of summer. The foliage stands up well to all but the hardest frost. In cold weather, the leaves droop from the branches but the heavy grey-green colour of the leaves adds interest to the winter garden. In fact, cistus are far more likely to lose their evergreen foliage in summer because of drought, although this is hardly likely to happen in our cool summer climate.

The California poppy is not a true poppy like the red poppies of Irish roadsides, but it is a member of the larger poppy family and the flowers are very poppy-like. In fact, this poppy is so easy that it can be sown where it is to flower.

However, better value is got by sowing in a seed tray and pricking out into small pots. The plants will flower in the same year or the following year if sown in late summer. They will then set lots of seeds and these will be shed and give rise to many new plants.

This will continue, new areas being taken over as they spread, but they are not aggressive or weedy spreaders and stay roughly in the area first planted. But 10 years on, there will still be swathes of colour each summer.

Fruit, vegetables and herbs

Plant out tender vegetables such as sweet corn and runner beans during suitable weather if not already done. If susceptible, give a last spray to apple trees for apple scab disease and check for greenflies. Repeat sowings of vegetables sown earlier.

Lawn

Lawns have been growing well, showing good colour mostly, except for badly starved ones. Most lawns are unlikely to need feeding for a while, except any starved lawn with poor colour which should now get some lawn fertiliser or high-nitrogen fertiliser.

Trees, shrubs and roses

Continue to prune spring shrubs and early summer shrubs as they go out of flower, if necessary. Continue to tie in the new shoots of climbing roses so that they will be in the correct position for training later. Continue to spray roses if spotted.

Flowers

Hanging baskets and other containers should be planted by now and bedding plants should be planted out. Watch out for slugs and snails in the first few weeks after planting. Dahlias and corms of gladiolus are planted out where they are to flower.

Greenhouse and House plants

Plant out tomatoes, chilli peppers, cucumbers and sweet pepper plants. Feed greenhouse plants strongly now to get good growth before mid-summer and water well. Spray a grapevine if it had mildew disease last year. Houseplants can be re-potted now.