Plant in a sunny location in soils of low to moderate fertility that drain well. Will also grow in light shade. This tough plant requires very little summer watering once established in coastal conditions but does best with occasional irrigation inland. We have never had any frost damage on our original form of this plant, and have been told it is hardy to at least 15° F. It is a great plant for adding gray foliage and pinkish purple flowers to the garden, especially in areas with deer as this plant is avoided by them. Cut back after each flowering period for best appearance.

Phlomis purpurea is native to Spain, Portugal and Morocco where it grows on hillsides and in rocky places. 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. While we also grow our original more wide spreading form of Phlomis purpurea that has narrower leaves and slightly darker flowers and list it simply as Phlomis purpurea, this form we received from John Low at Sempervirens Botanical in 2015 has a more upright form, larger leaves and a splash of white in the flower and it grows a bit more vigorous with more a uniform and upright form. We grew it for 2017 until 2019. 

The information about Phlomis purpurea 'Semper Purple' 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.