Douglas Justice, for his June 2015 in the Garden | UBC Botanical Garden blog, decided that since everything here is blooming so early this year, he may as well do summer flowers. He chose to feature Cistus, which is a plant that Nadia and I have never posted. These photos are from last week, May 29. First up is Cistus albidus, which is supposed to have grey-looking leaves from its pale hairs, though that is not obvious in this photo. It does have the large bright lavender-pink flowers. Based on that tag at the very front of the first photo below that I realize is clearly for something else, I had a totally different name for what I now think is Cistus x lenis 'Grayswood Pink' mentioned in the blog, and I think that Douglas's blog header photo has to be this one as well. This is Cistus laurifolius, which was not open last week, but surely it would be open soon if not already. We found other Cistus as well. This is C. inflatus. Cistus monspeliensis. [edited: Douglas says this is also Cistus inflatus]. I'm sneaking in one that is not in the garden, but is on the UBC Campus, behind the Scarfe building almost across Main Mall from the Beaty Biodiversity Museum. Douglas suggested we check it out - Cistus x purpureus.
Cistus laurifolius flowers are open now. Here is a photo I took last time of the Cistus x lenis 'Grayswood Pink', but I didn't post it because I didn't know the ID of the broom. It's Spartium junceus, and it's supposed to stay in bloom for a long time. Douglas Justice told me today that the one I posted as Cistus monspeliensis has that label but is really Cistus inflatus. I think he said that they might be the same thing.
