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long blooming cistus, viburnum soc, cistaceous soc

Hi Medit-Planters!			5 Oct. 1997

Ken Montgomery (Anderson Valley Nursery, Boonville, CA) and I have several
times tyalked about starting a Cistaceous Society but life is so crazy.
Sharon Osmond, a fine designer and viburnum afficianado and I have often
spoken of a Viburnum Society.  Talk is cheap and plant societies take so much
time to administer.  Is there a Bay SArea person ou there with similar
interests
who is not so overburdened who'd be interested in hosting a first meeting
and being an officer the first year?  I'm all ears!

Back in July Karen Whitehead asked about long blooming cistus and I've been
meaning to answer all this time as I have grown so many species and hybrids:
In my garden, Zone n9 Berkeley CA  Sunset Zone 16-17  low temp 19F
the following have been the longest blooming cistus:
1) 'Sunset'  this shocking pink hybrid (natyural?) blooms every day of the
year, heaviest in early spring and early winter.  It has a strong constitution
and lives many years.  It also comes true from seed.
2) C. 'skanbergii' is certainly next in line and a favorite with small soft
salmon-pink flowers.  It flowers on and off all year, on at least 6 or 7
months.
It stays relatively small and is charming.
3) C 'maculatus' often sold as ladanifer is a long and heavy bloomer with
beautiful leaves redolent with volatile oils.  The leaves are sticky.  The
flowers look like washed out ladanifers which shrunk in the laundry but it
is still a valuable plant.
4) C 'purpureus' is a harsh purple/pink large plants witha long bloom period
which really turns heads in mass plantings.

The worst bloomers have the best flowers (largest, prettiest)
1) C. palhinae  huge white cup shaped blooms of a warm tone and unmarked
blooms at most a few weeks
2) C X ARGUILLARI (SOLD AS C. 'BLANCHE' AT WESTERN HILLS FOR YEARS has gorgeous
undulkating leaves, gets huge and several times a year blooms heavily with huge
white flowers only slightly smaller than palinhae.
3) ladanifer blooms for a few days a few times but has the largest and most
exciting flowers.
4) salvifolius var. prostratus.  Though only a few weeks in bloom in early
spring this species covers itself with small flat white flowers and looks
likes drifts of snow.  The rest of the year it doesnt amount to much.
5)Halimium atriplicifolium-This shining white leaved shrub blooms for 10 or
12 days at a time, 2 or 3 times a year with screaming yellowm unmarked
blooms.
Exciting but painful unless carefully sited.
Phew I didn;'t realize i had so much to say about cistus.
Enjoy, you'all
The Wizard aka opga1@dsp.net (Michael d. Barclay)
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