Trees, Shrubs and Conifers: smoke bush (colors and regular), 1 by snapple45

snapple45 wrote:
For those of you with space I highly reccomend a different species of Cotinus, Cotinus obovatus - The American Smoketree. This is a small tree native to the mid -southern states but fully hardy in zone 5. There is a large one on the University Of Michigan campus. It absolutely can not be beat by any other tree for fall color. Guaranteed! It prefers slightly alkaline soil and and somewhat dry sites - no wet feet - and needs full sun. Once established they don't come any tougher. It is worth every inch of its landscape space.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1608/
http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?cod...


I also have Cotinus coggygria 'Golden Spirit'. Just put it in the ground, so too soon to tell if it really keeps that soft butter yellow, tinged with lime. It's expensive and said to be a slow grower.