Rhus typhina - Stag's Horn Sumach

<p style="text-align: justify"><strong>Rare are bushes as flamboyant as Virginia sumac in autumn</strong>. It is hard to miss with its wonderful, deeply divided leaves turning warm colours, from bright orange to crimson red, as days shorten. Its striking deep-purple, torch-shaped fruits remain on the tree throughout winter, an added attraction.</p> <p style="text-align: justify"><strong>Virginia sumac grows in full sun but tolerates partial shade. It prefers ordinary but well-drained soil. In addition, it has exceptional hardiness, withstands drought once established and does not fear air pollution.</strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify">Alas, its reputation as an invasive bush does it no favours. <strong>Its tendency to produce suckers can quickly become problematic if not kept in check</strong> but... this can become a real blessing to prevent erosion on a bank, for example, or to green quickly a somewhat forgotten spot where nothing seemed to want to grow.</p> <p style="text-align: justify">A true gem of sculptural botany, <strong>Virginia sumac seems carved in transparency yet it is its natural habit that casts only a light, beneficial shade</strong> within a bed of perennials and low bushes, or at the heart of a naturalistic meadow garden planted with flowering North American perennials. An opportunity to create in your garden a prodigious, multicoloured impressionist picture in autumn whose signature could well be by <a href="https://www.promessedefleurs.com/conseil-plantes-jardin/blog/inclassable/visite-au-jardin-de-piet-oudolf-a-hummelo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Piet Outdolf</a>.</p> [caption id="attachment_60372" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]<img class="size-large wp-image-60372" src="https://www.promessedefleurs.com/blogwp/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/rhus-feuillage-dautomne-1024x576.jpg" alt="sumac in autumn" width="1024" height="576" /> Spectacular foliage in autumn[/caption]