Cotinus coggygria Winecraft Black - Smoke Bush

Cotinus coggygria 'Winecraft Black’ is a recent variety of bush with a particularly compact and rounded habit and dark purple almost black foliage. It forms a 1.50 m (4 ft 11 in) tall bush with a slightly larger spread, attractive from spring until the first frost. Large purple fluffy panicles appear above its foliage in early summer. In autumn, its leaves take on warm red-orange shades. Truly at home in most climates, even the harshest ones, it will be more colourful in the sun, and more floriferous in poor, chalky, and dry soil. A variety that is very suitable for container cultivation, but also stunning in an informal hedge, impressive on a large slope, and majestic as a standalone specimen.

Cotinus coggygria, also known as smoke bush, is a deciduous bush in the cashew family, native to southern Europe and Asia. In nature, it grows on rocky slopes, in poor soils and dry climates. The 'Winecraft Black’ variety stands out for its ever-changing foliage colours: from intense purple-violet in spring, it gradually darkens under the more intense rays of the summer sun, and finally ends the year in beauty by adorning itself with gorgeous red-orange hues in autumn. It reaches a size of about 1.50 m in all directions when fully grown. In June, Cotinus coggygria 'Winecraft Black’ produces panicles of small flowers, with elongated pedicels forming a long feathery cluster covered in hairs: the inflorescence then takes on a smoky purplish hue, which gave this species its name "smoke bush". Its round deciduous leaves appear as early as April and change colour throughout the season.

Truly easy to grow and undemanding, Cotinus 'Winecraft Black’ 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 will not be able to knock over. Once well established in the garden, it tolerates drought well but does not tolerate excessive humidity in winter, especially in heavy soils. Like deciduous spindle bushes, it is very useful for brightening up informal hedges or low-growing evergreen bush beds such as boxwoods, escallonias, and compact laurel-tins. Its fabulous autumn colours blend perfectly with late-flowering shrubs in shades of pink and large autumn asters with purple flowers (Aster laevis, turbinellus...). In bouquets, combine its purple flower clusters with white, pink, red, mauve, or violet roses.