In old gardening books you will find cotinus referred to as Rhus cotinus<\/em>; in fact the species Cotinus coggygria<\/em> is sometimes called Venetian sumac<\/em>, endorsing its association with the genus. Now separated from rhus, cotinus stands alone as the genus of a handful of species, the cultivars of which include some of our finest foliage shrubs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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To most gardeners, cotinus is synonymous with purple foliage, the plum-leaved forms being the most widely planted. The green-leaved smoke bush options are equally impressive, however, their soft leaves contrasting in colour and texture with evergreens and plants with typically formed foliage. Many of these excel when it comes to autumn colour<\/a>.<\/p>\n
They are large, hardy, summer-flowering, deciduous shrubs with attractive, rounded green, purple or gold leaves and feathery flower plumes. Its common name of smoke bush or smoke tree is inspired by the wispy character of its flowers.<\/p>\n
There are three species from Europe and Asia, southeast USA and southwest China and the smaller cultivars grow to 1.2m in height and spread, while larger ones can reach 4-8m in height and spread. See below for the best cotinus to grow.<\/p>\n

Best smoke bush trees for autumn colour<\/h2>\n
Cotinus coggygria<\/em> \u2018Royal Purple\u2019<\/h3>\n
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Cotinus coggygria<\/em> \u2018Royal Purple\u2019<\/h3>\n
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