Description | Royal Purple Smoke Bush (Cotinus coggygria) is a stunning red-purple shrub with clusters of filaments that look like purple puffs of smoke. |
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Pronunciation | (ko-TI-nus)(ko-GIG-ri-a) |
Plant Type | All Plants, Shrubs Deciduous, Site author's observations |
Hardiness Zone | 5-8 |
Sunlight | full for best foliage color |
Moisture | average |
Soil & Site | average |
Flowers | The actual flowers are rather ineffective.yellow panicles that appear before the smokey effect starts. The ornamental value comes from the hairs that arise from the pedicels and peduncle of the flower forming the puffy, smoke-like purplish red plumes. |
Leaves | One of the darkest of the purple leaf cultivars. |
Dimensions | 15 feet tall by 10 feet wide |
Maintenance | can be cut back very hard and it will branch back, prune lightly in the spring to preserve the flowers for this season |
Cultivar Origin | Lombarts Nursery in Boskoop, Holland |
Misc Facts | Cotinus from the Greek word kotinos, which is Greek for olive and coggygria from kokkugia, the Greek name. (aka C. coggygria 'Kromhout) |
Author's Notes | I have seen Cotinus cut back to 6 inch stumps and next year they readily branch back. |
Notes & Reference | #01-Manual of Woody Landscape Plants (Michael Dirr) , Monrovia Nursery web site |