Cotinus coggyria, Smoke Bush

Cotinus coggygria 'Rubrifolius'
 Smoke Bush

I had always thought of this shrub as belonging in a cold climate until I saw it recently peeping over a picket fence in a local garden. It gets its common name from the wispy smoke like flowers which appear around now .The foliage is a dark purple and the leaves will turn red during Autumn before falling.It grows to about 3 metres in sun or shade with the leaves turning a darker purple in full sun.

Stems of Smoke Bush are great in flower arrangements especially with orange flowers

A huge Smoke Bush growing in the Bodnant Garden near Colwyn Bay, North Wales