Plant in a sunny location in soils of low to moderate fertility that drain well. Will also grow in light shade. This tough plant doesn't require much if any irrigation once established in coastal conditions; will require an occasional watering inland. We have never had any cold damage to this plant, and it should be hardy to at least 15° F.

To our eye Phlomis purpurea ssp. caballeroi more closely similar to Phlomis italica, though it is now listed as a subspecies of Phlomis purpurea. It has been noted as being from Alicante in Spain, Morocco and Algeria though its existence in Spain has never been verified. This plant was originally described in 1918 by Spanish botanist Carlos Pau Espaņol but was merged with Phlomis purpurea by fellow Spaniards Oriol de Bolōs and Josep Vigo Bonada in 1983. The name for the genus dates back to the first century AD from the Greek physician Dioscorides use of the word to describe some plants in the genus and it thought to originate from the Greek word meaning "flame" because the leaves of some species were used for lamp wicks. The specific epithet refers to the typical flower color.

We first grew this plant from seed received in 1992 from the Jardin Bontanique, Nice in France as Phlomis caballeroi. 

The information about Phlomis purpurea ssp. caballeroi that is displayed on this web page is based on research conducted in our nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We will also include observations made about this plant as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens that we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We also incorporate comments that we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they share cultural information that aids others growing this plant.