Cotinus coggygria Royal Purple - Smoke Bush

The Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple' is one of the most well-known varieties of smoke bush, due to its intense purple-violet foliage, which is translucent and delicately edged with pink in spring and summer. This large bush, with sometimes slightly anarchic growth, also captivates in summer, when it forms large cloud-like panicles in shades of purple and smoke. Its foliage also takes on warm scarlet hues in autumn. Truly happy in most climates, even the harshest ones, it will be more colourful in the sun, and more floriferous in poor, chalky, and dry soil. A superb variety for an informal hedge, stunning on a large slope, imperial as a standalone plant.

The Cotinus coggygria, also known as smoke tree, is a bush from the anacardiaceae family, native to southern Europe and Asia. In nature, it grows on rocky slopes, on poor soils and in dry climates. The 'Royal Purple' variety is distinguished by its dark purple-violet foliage. It reaches a minimum size of 3.5m (11.48ft) in all directions at adult age. The Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple' develops a particular habit when not regularly pruned: its branches are sometimes so extended and trailing that the bush forms a huge dome, 6m (19ft) wide. It forms small yellow-green flowers in June, with elongated pedicels that form a long panicle of fruit covered in hairs: the inflorescence then takes on a pinkish-purple, slightly smoky, feathery appearance, which gave this species its name of smoke tree. Its deciduous oval leaves, measuring 6-8cm (2.4 - 3.1in) in length, appear from April onwards and change colour throughout the season. In autumn, both panicles and foliage take on sumptuous colours, ranging from orange to dark pink and scarlet red.

Easy to grow, the 'Royal Purple' Cotinus appreciates well-drained, poor, light, and chalky soils, and only dislikes sea spray. Once established, it tolerates drought but does not tolerate excessive winter humidity, especially in heavy soils. Like deciduous spindle trees, it is very useful for brightening up hedges or evergreen shrub borders like boxwoods, thuja, Cotoneaster lacteus, or cherry laurels with its vibrant colours. Its dark foliage creates interesting contrasts with shrubs with grey foliage (Artemisia ludoviciana, Buddleia Silver Anniversary, Gomphostigma virgatum White Candy), bluish foliage (Eucalyptus gunii), yellow foliage (Phyllostachys aurea, Sambucus nigra Golden Tower), or even the variegated pink foliage of Daule crevette (in cooler soil). You can also grow this cotinus on a large slope or alongside tall grasses (Panicum virgatum, Stipa gigantea...), catmints, stachys, lavenders, rosemary, shrubby salvias, dwarf buddlejas.