Cotinus - Smokebush

Cotinus, especially Cotinus coggygria and its American cousin Cotinus obovata, known as bushes with wigs, are large deciduous bushes popular for their spectacular flowering, with fluffy plumes of pink smoke, as well as for their sumptuous autumn colours. With dark purple foliage like the famous Cotinus 'Royal Purple', or more or less reddish garnet in the cultivar 'Grace', they take on all imaginable shades from lemon yellow or mustard to vermillion orange, purple, lilac, and violet starting in October. They enchant autumn for two months, even in the worst drought and soil conditions. In fact, this bush, also known as Smoke Bush, thrives in our dry, poor, and calcareous hills, even in arid conditions. Perfectly hardy and remarkably sober, Cotinus coggygria fears only excessive winter moisture, especially in heavy soils. Like deciduous Euonymus, it is very useful for brightening up free hedges or evergreen shrub beds like boxwoods, Thuja, Cotoneaster lacteus, or cherry laurels. In recent years, more compact varieties have appeared, such as 'Young Lady', perfect for small spaces and well-suited for container gardening.