Cotinus coggygria Dusky Maiden - Smoke Bush

Cotinus coggygria Dusky Maiden is a variety of bush with a very dense habit and dark purple foliage at the beginning of the season. A foliage that changes colour throughout the seasons, turning orange and bright red in autumn. Its cloudy inflorescences change from smoky pink to purple-pink. Easy to grow in most climates, even the driest ones in summer, it will be more colourful in the sun and more floriferous in poor soil. Its moderate growth suits small gardens and cultivation in large pots.

Cotinus Dusky Maiden is a horticultural creation by Peter Moore (UK). It is a cross between Cotinus szechuanensis, native to China, and C. coggygria 'Velvet Cloak'. It is a deciduous bush of the anacardiaceae family. Growing relatively slowly, this Dusky Maiden variety reaches about 1.50 m (4 ft 11 in) in all directions at the age of 10. Eventually, it can reach a height of 2 to 3 m (6 ft 7 in to 9 ft 10 in). The bush produces more branching than other Cotinus varieties, giving it a particularly dense habit. In June, it forms panicles of small yellow-green flowers, whose pedicels lengthen to form a long panicle of fruit covered in hair: the inflorescence then takes on a smoky pink hue and a feathery appearance that earned this plant its name of "wig tree". During the summer, the "wigs" turn purple. Its oval-shaped leaves appear in April, earlier or later depending on the climate. Starting with a brownish-purple colour when they bud, they gradually turn to purplish-violet and then to purple-red in summer. They take on beautiful shades of orange to scarlet at the end of the season before falling quite late, at the end of October.

Truly easy to grow and extremely undemanding, Cotinus 'Dusky Maiden' will find a place in all gardens, even the smallest ones, or in a large pot on the terrace or balcony. In this case, it will be necessary to choose a large, heavy, and stable container that the wind won't risk knocking over. Once well rooted in the garden, it tolerates drought very well in summer, and does not tolerate excessive moisture in winter, especially in heavy soils. Like deciduous euonymus, Cotinus is very useful for brightening up loose hedges or beds of evergreen shrubs. Its fabulous autumn colours go perfectly with late-flowering shrubs in shades of blue (such as Ceratostigma griffithii or willmottianum, Caryopteris), or large mauve autumn asters (Aster laevis, turbinellus...). In bouquets, combine its pink flower panicles with white, pink, red, mauve, purple, or violet roses.