Is it just me, or are lots of deciduous plants colouring up late this year? Driving through Toowoomba the other day I noticed that the liquidambars are only now revealing their full autumn glory, and in my own garden, it’s a real mixed bag of: leaves that have already dropped; those that are at their peak of colour; and others that have only just started to turn.
In the “already dropped” category are plants like grapevines, stonefruit, Manchurian pears and mulberries. In the just turned category are apples, Callery pears, birches, Chinese tallows and pomegranates. That leaves the final category – deciduous plants that are at their peak. There ain’t many, let me tell you. Ornamental grasses like Miscanthus and Panicums are positively glowing in tones of gold and orange, a Chinese Pistacio is starting to hit its straps, rugosa roses are the colour of butter, and a smokebush, a highlight of late autumn, is in the midst of a spectacular display.
Smokebushes are relatively rare here in Australia. I’m not really sure why. Perhaps it’s because everyone’s obsessed with shrubs like photinia and murraya, seeing anything less common as exotic, and therefore, hard to grow. Nothing could be further from the truth. Lots of rare plants are highly gardenworthy, and in the case of smokebushes, so worthwhile that they deserve to be widely planted.
In the UK it’s a different story. Gardening is the national past-time and lots of breeding work has been conducted with the two of the five species in the genus – Cotinus obovatus, the American smokebush, and Cotinus coggygria, the Asian smokebush. Plenty of top notch plants have been bred as a result, and the pick of the lot, in my opinion, is Cotinus ‘Grace’.
A hybrid named by English nurseryman Peter Dummer for his wife, ‘Grace’ is one of those plants that truly lives up to its name. It is exceptionally beautiful, and indeed, moves gracefully through the seasons. The foliage is a vivid port wine colour in summer, devoid of the leaden dullness so common in some purple leafed plants. In late autumn, the leaves change to a luminescent shade of scarlet.
Cotinus ‘Flame’, a product of the same cross, has greener leaves than ‘Grace’ but will reach a similar size of about four metres tall and wide. While slightly less beautiful all year round it probably has more spectacular foliage in autumn, turning a fiery shade of orange. ‘Royal Purple’ has burgundy foliage that’s darker than ‘Grace’ and it’s also a slower grower, making it better suited to a small garden. ‘Golden Spirit’ is a newish cultivar with attention grabbing, lime coloured foliage through summer.
Smokebushes have a reputation for being hard to grow, but this is entirely unfounded. It is true that they prefer a cooler climate, but in my experience they are very drought tolerant plants and easy to manage in most soils and any position other than full shade. The autumn display is actually more intense in a soil that’s lean and hungry, so don’t worry too much if your conditions aren’t ideal. Smokebushes are adaptable plants.
In fact, my view is that smokebushes only have a couple of downsides. One is that they can look a bit leggy when young, having a tendency to send forth long, whippy shoots. This is a minor issue easily solved by pruning early on to create a compact, bushy habit. Some English gardeners recommend cutting back hard each year like you would a buddleja, but with Cotinus, this tends to produce foliage at the expense of flowers. I want to enjoy both, so I prune only when necessary to keep the bush looking shapely.
The only other issue is that some people have a reaction to the sap. Cotinus is in the same family as the genus Rhus, which is notorious for causing allergies, so take care when pruning. Other than that, Cotinus should perform well in all corners of the Downs. If your local nursery doesn’t stock any of the cultivars, ask if they can get one in for you or try a specialist supplier of rare plants.
By the way, for those curious about the plant’s common name of “smokebush”, Cotinus bears inflorescences of pinkish flowers in summer that, from a distance, look like a smoky haze arising from the bush. Cotinus is truly a plant for all seasons.
First published in the Toowoomba Chronicle 29th May 2010. Photo by James Gaither via flickr.com.
