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smoke bush

15 years ago

I bought a pot this weekend. They had two kinds one was mislabeled because all of them were labeled Royal Purple. I chose the larger leaved variety with greener leaves. It has a new shoot that is red purple. The real royal purple had very dark purple leaves that were smaller. It looked less vigorous. The ones like mine had all been cut back. I know the one I got is a named variety, but what could it be? Should I have chosen the smaller purple plants?

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Comments (5)

laceyvail 6A, WV
15 years ago
All good purple leafed cultivars should have leaves that turn green as the season goes on. Overall, purple leafed smokebushes are less hardy than the species and often experience various levels of winter die back. Because of this, they are best treated as cutback shrubs. You don't get blooms this way, but you do get a fabulous flush of deep purple leaves--up to 8 feet.

If I were looking for a good purple leaved cultivar, I would have taken one of the deep purple leafed specimens, no question about it. The one you chose will be mostly greenish.
laceyvail 6A, WV
15 years ago
Sorry, don't know what happened but some of my post disappeared. The opening of the previous post should read, "All good purple leafed cultivars should have leaves that stay purple. Seedlings usually have leaves that turn green as the season goes on."

The clunkiness of this site drives me nuts sometimes.
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
15 years ago
The larger leafed one that is more green with a red/purple flush and red new growth could be 'Grace', a hybrid between C. coggygria and the native C. obovatus. This is a very robust plant and gets quite large quite rapidly compared to the typical purple leaf form. If you wanted purple foliage, I would have chosen the other plant. 'Grace' is a great shrub but the purple flush is primarily focused on new growth and it does not maintain the purple color throughout the season.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cotinus 'Grace'
helenh
Original Author
15 years ago
The one I got does look like Grace. Thanks robust sounds good. Weather is very harsh here. We are having a heat warning; I may buy one of the dark purples this fall.
User
15 years ago
I bought a "Royal Purple" smokebush from a very reliable private nursery about 3 days ago.
The leaves are smaller than my "Grace", but the same color.(blue green)
The new growth is purple and the smoke plumes are red, but the leaves are smaller, it is truley beautiful.
Then I researched online at a web site specifically addressed to smoke bush, and they stated that the "Royal purple" will be green longer in it's youth.
This is a young smoke bush. It is mabey, 2 1/2 feet tall and growing.
You may have a "Royal Purple", it may be young.
The private nursery I bought it from is reliable, I buy alot from them, that is where I originally bought my "Grace" 3 years ago.
They don't sell "Grace" anymore, only Royal Purple.
SO, wait and see, mabey next summer you will see it turn more purple than green when it starts to establish itself in your garden.
These bushes are truly gorgeous!

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