Smoke Bush (Cotinus)

How to choose a smoke bush

The Royal Purple Smoke Bush has deep maroon purple, rounded leaves that hold their colour through summer and turn scarlet in autumn, with purplish pink plumes. It grows three to four metres tall. The Grace Smoke Bush is a vigorous hybrid that reaches four to five metres if left unpruned. Its large, soft, oval leaves open wine red in spring, darken in summer and turn orange scarlet in autumn, under big pink plumes.

The Flame Smoke Bush is the one to choose for autumn. Its leaves are green through summer, then turn a brilliant orange red, and it carries pink plumes on a shrub of four to five metres. The Purple Smoke Bush is a purple toned form of the common smoke bush, useful as a dark backdrop in a mixed border.

Where smoke bush works

Smoke bushes are shrubs for cool to warm temperate and Mediterranean climates. They are frost hardy and drought tolerant once established. They are not suited to the humid subtropics or the tropics, where they grow poorly and colour weakly.

Plant them in full sun, because the purple forms fade towards green in shade and the autumn display is strongest in an open position. Use one as a feature shrub, several as an informal deciduous screen, or place a purple form behind silver, lime or blue foliage, where the contrast carries the whole border. The plumes appear in summer and hang on for weeks, catching low light like a haze.

For companions, see our autumn colour plants, other deciduous shrubs and the wider range of plants for cool climates.

Planting and spacing

Plant in autumn or winter in well drained soil of ordinary fertility. Avoid rich, wet ground, because poorly drained soil raises the risk of verticillium wilt. As a specimen, allow three to four metres of space. For an informal screen, space plants about two and a half to three metres apart. Mulch after planting and keep the mulch clear of the stems.

Care basics

Water regularly for the first summer or two, then only in long dry spells. Smoke bushes need little feeding, and too much fertiliser gives soft growth and duller colour. A light dressing of compost in spring is enough.

Pruning depends on what you want. Left alone, the shrub grows large and carries the most plumes. Cut hard in late winter, it sends up long shoots with bigger, more richly coloured leaves, but fewer plumes. Remove any dead or crossing wood at the same time. The sap may irritate skin, so wear gloves when pruning. The smoke bush growing guide explains the two ways to prune in detail.

Common questions

Why is my purple smoke bush turning green?

Usually too much shade. Purple forms need full sun to hold their colour, and heavy feeding can also dull it.

Will smoke bush grow in a humid subtropical garden?

Poorly. It is a cool to temperate climate shrub that wants a cold winter and a drier summer.

When should I prune a smoke bush?

In late winter, while it is bare. Prune lightly to keep the plumes, or hard for larger leaves.

Does smoke bush lose its leaves?

Yes. It is deciduous, colouring red, orange or scarlet in autumn before the leaves fall.