Where is the best place to plant a smoke bush?
Plant smoke trees in full sun, in acidic or alkaline soil. New plants need regular water, but established plants are drought tolerant, making them a good fit for dry climates or forgetful gardeners. Smoke bush becomes more drought tolerant after the plant becomes well rooted. If planting in containers, use one dwarf plant per 35 cm (14-inch) pot. Smoke bush is sometimes used in outdoor bonsai.Since smoke bush blooms on the previous year’s growth, hold off on any major pruning until after summer flowering. Plants can also be kept smaller by cutting them back hard to the ground. This will promote new vertical shoots with larger leaves and enhanced foliage coloration.
What is a smoke bush good for?
In the garden, this plant is best used as a large accent plant, single specimen, in masses, or planted in a row as an informal hedge. Smokebush has many cultivars, but the flowers are often sacrificed for the interesting foliage color or bright orange or yellow fall leaf color. Cotinus (/koʊˈtaɪnÉ™s/), the smoketree or smoke bush, is a genus of seven species of flowering plants in the family Anacardiaceae, closely related to the sumacs (Rhus).This plant has low severity poison characteristics. The award-winning ‘Royal Purple’ smoketree is a large shrub or small tree with a compact growth habit and showy purple leaves in the Anacardiaceae (cashew or poison ivy) family.