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shrub of the month
Smokin’ hot
A veritable all-rounder, who wouldn’t want a Cotinus in the garden?
IMAGE DoraDalton/Getty Images
Words Sue Witteman
This shrub has the telling
common name of smoke
bush, with good reason. You
may have noticed when walking
around your neighbourhood in
summer, the odd large shrub
covered with curious panicles of
fluffy flowers, looking not unlike
puffs of smoke. The flowers on
this shrub look like no other
and are an arresting sight when
in full puff. But the excitement
doesn’t end there, for in autumn
it is the turn of the leaves to
stop you in your tracks, when
they turn the most stunning
colours of red, yellow or orange.
Green, purple or yellow?
Not only do Cotinus have great
autumn colour, they also have
a range of spring and summer
colours from which to choose.
For the green-leaved versions,
there is C. coggygria, the
European smoke bush, or the
larger-growing C. obovatus (syn.
C. americanus) the American
smoke bush, which also sports
larger leaves.
If you would like one of
the purple-leaved Cotinus,
there is C. coggygria ‘Foliis
Purpureis’, the purple smoke
bush; C. coggygria ‘Purpurea’;
C. coggygria ‘Royal Purple’ and
C. coggygria ‘Velvet Cloak’. All
are lovely varieties with varying
degrees of purple in their leaves.
For green and purple-tinged
leaves, there is C. ‘Grace’,
which starts off purple and
then a bit of green creeps in,
and C. coggygria ‘Red Spirit’,
starting off green and changing
to purple as the season
progresses.
For a fresh lime-yellow leaf,
plant the delicious-looking
C. coggygria ‘Golden Spirit’.
Most Cotinus flowers start out
a pale-pink, turning smoky grey
as they age. The purple-leaved
varieties have stronger coloured
flowers of purplish-pink.
How to use
Cotinus can be planted as
shrubs or grown as small trees,
usually to about 3m in height.
If using it as a shrub, you can
either leave it alone to do its
thing or, if you want a smaller
bush but bigger leaves, then
prune it down nearly to ground
level. The resultant long, fresh
stems look spectacular and
are also great for picking and
adding to a vase. The fluffy
flower heads can also be
attached to a wreath, forming a
soft, ethereal-looking circlet.
Many successful gardens have
included purple foliage to act
as points of interest in what is
usually a monochromatic green
scheme. Cotinus do this job
superbly – with a good average
height, the option to prune if
required, and the purple leaves
have a grape-like bloom to
them which softens the look.
They can be planted on their
own as a large and showy
gardener.kiwi
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