Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple'

smoke bush

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Buy Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple' smoke bush: Magnificent smoke-like plumes

This shrub is deciduous so it will lose all its leaves in autumn, then fresh new foliage appears again each spring.

  • Position: full sun
  • Soil: moderately-fertile, moist, well-drained soil
  • Rate of growth: average
  • Flowering period: July to August
  • Hardiness: fully hardy

    This deciduous shrub has magnificent, dark red-purple oval leaves, that turn scarlet in autumn. In July and August, it is festooned with fluffy plumes of purplish-pink flowers that look like a haze of smoke. This is an eye-catchin atching specimen plant for a sunny shrub or mixed border. The foliage, which appears almost translucent when backlit by the sun, is at its best when the plant has been pruned hard in March.

  • Garden care: In late winter or early spring remove any misplaced, diseased or crossing branches. Alternatively, to produce larger leaves, cut the stems back hard to within two or three buds of the base in early spring. After pruning apply a generous 5-7cm (2-3in) mulch of well-rotted garden compost or manure around the base of the plant.

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Eventual height & spread

Notes on Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple'

"Burgundy-red lollipop leaves held late into the year and, when the temperature drops, the leaves develop a bright-pink margin"

Good looking plant, very healthy

5

Good sized shrub, good root system and healthy. Is in a sheltered spot and seems to have established well during the summer/autumn. Has not gone through a winter yet but has had a bit of protection so should be fine

Angela

Scotland

true

beautiful addition to the garden

5

A beautiful addition to a cottage garden. Wonderful colour and a great backdrop to perennials.

seasider

Weston super Mare

true

Cotinus coggygria'Royal Purple'

5.0 2

100.0

Hi Crocus. What time of year can I plant Cotinus Royal Purple?

Pippi

Hello, The best times to plant are either autumn or spring, however you can plant at any time of the year, provided the ground is not frozen in winter, or if planting in summer, you need to make sure it is kept really well watered.

helen

Hi the older leaves of my continus are greenish but the new growth is purple. can you advise as what to do to make it remain purple. thanks Christine

christine

Hello, The leaves will hold their purple colour best when they are planted in full sun. It is quite normal then for the older leaves, which tend to be shaded by the newer growth, to lose some of their colour.

helen

Hello Crocus. We have 3 Cotinus coggygria 'royal purple' which are planted behind some macleaya cordata. They have been in situ for 3 years now, in a sunny border. However, they have hardly grown in height at all,being about 70cm at most, and cannot be seen when macleaya are fully grown. Should we water them more, feed, or maybe move them? Are the macleaya taking over?I am reluctant to prune as this will surely not help with height. Thankyou for any helpful suggestions.

jenwren

Hello, All plants compete for water, light and nutrients, so if the Cotinus are planted very close to other, well-established plants, then they will struggle a little. Also, I imagine that if they are tucked right at the back of the border, it may be easy to forget to water them, which will be even more important if they are near the base of a wall (as this is always very dry). The only thing you can do before you move them is to make sure they are kept well fed and watered during the warmer weather. If however they still don't flourish, then I would whip them out and move them to a better spot.

Helen

Specimen Ceanothus or another large bushy shrub.... Good afternoon, When I was first looking for a Ceanothus to replace the one we have in our front garden, I looked on your website, but you only had small ones. Our once lovely Ceanothus has been pruned out of all recognition again this year, as I planted it a bit too near our boundary when it was a baby. I know it may come back, but it is getting ridiculous as every time it grows back it has to be cut back again severely and then ooks a mess for most of the year. Have you got a nice, tall, bushy Ceanothus to replace it? I love my Ceanothus but perhaps if you don't have a big one, do you have another large, flowering shrub as an alternative? Hope you can help Regards Margaret

D DRAKETT

Hello Margaret, it is rare to find larger sized Ceanothus as they are usually quite short-lived and don't normally live longer than 6 - 8 years. We do have a selection of larger shrubs on our site like Hamamelis, Hydrangeas, Magnolias, Acer, Cornus, Cotinus, Philadelphus, Syringa and Viburnum, so you may find something of interest. They will be listed in this section. http://www.crocus.co.uk/plants/ I hope this helps. Helen Plant Doctor

Crocus Helpdesk

Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple' hedge? Hi, Having seen a stunning display of the Cotinus planted with a band of Miscanthus sinensis 'Morning Light' in front of it, at the National Garden of Wales recently, I would like to try and reproduce the effect of the silver against the purple background. My problem however is space. I am in the process of providing a new bed which is approximately 6 feet long by 3 feet wide. Although you quote the Cotinus as growing to about 5m x 5m, you also suggest pruning it hard back to the base each year. If I prune annually as suggested, would it be possible to retain it to say a 1 - 1.5 m high bush, allowing the Miscanthus to be planted in front, thus forming a contrasting foil when viewed from both patio and lawn. If this is not considered viable, can you suggest another purple / dark red or similar bush that would provide a similar effect. Many thanks, Brian.

Brian Boon

Hello Brian, Cotinus is a pretty big shrub, but if you cut it back to within 2 or 3 buds from the base each year in early spring, then it shouldnt get too muchh higher than 1.5m. Alternatively you could opt for one of the purple leaved Berberis - just click on the following link to go straight to them. http://www.crocus.co.uk/search/_/search.berberis/ I hope this helps. Helen Plant Doctor

Crocus Helpdesk

Cotinus 'Grace' not flowering Hello Crocus, I am having a problem with my Cotinus 'Grace'. It has the most enormous leaves but has not had many flowers this season. Could you shed any light as to why? I would be most grateful as it is a favorite of mine.Regards Louise

louise barton - warner

Hello Louise, Cotinus can be cut back hard each year and this will encourage the plant to produce really large leaves, but this is usually at the expense of the flowers. If you want flowers, then you should resist cutting it back each year.

Crocus Helpdesk

I'm afraid you have been given bad advice as 'Smoke bushes' are fully hardy and don't need to be moved inside during cold nights. It is however a deciduous shrub so it will lose all its leaves in winter, so it is normal for it to look like a bare twig until the new leaves are produced in spring. Therefore I suspect it is still alive, and would recommend waiting until spring to see if it re-shoots.

Crocus

I think my 'Smoke bush' has died! I planted it the day I received it and have watered it regularly. Since we have had a number of frosts I have moved it into the garage on cold nights to prevent frost damage. I have done this on the advice of a professional gardener as it was a young plant and needed protection. Please can you let me know if you think it has died?

Maxine Mulrooney

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