Winecraft Gold® Smokebush
Cotinus coggygria 'MINCOJAU3' USPP 30,327
Many times in the nursery business, we encounter plant names so beautifully elaborate they seem to come from the pen of a poet. Think of Tamukeyama Japanese maple (hands folded in prayer on the mountain) or Mine-No-Yuki camellia (snow on the mountain). Well, that is NOT the case with the name of this plant. Eloquence did not prevail when naming Cotinus coggygria, also known simply as Smokebush. No, somebody must have seen the seed heads of this plant and said ‘huh, that looks like smoke let’s call it that!’ Well sometimes it’s good to be literal! Smokebush is known for its prominent purple seed heads that resemble ethereal mist, but its mature habit can be gangly and take up huge amounts of otherwise plantable space in the garden. Proven Winners fixed that with Winecraft Gold Smokebush. This Cotinus reaches a mature height between 4 to 6 feet and is a glowing beacon of lime and green foliage stacked on dark stems with green flower plumes in spring. New growth emerges orange and then turns gold, so this deciduous shrub looks great alongside the purple of loropetalum or the blue of Leymus grass. All Smokebush perform best in full sun. It is deer and rabbit resistant and hardy to zone 5A. Winecraft Gold blooms on old wood, so selectively prune after flowering if needed to maintain shape. Its name may not be special, but Winecraft Gold Smokebush is poetry in a pot!