Cotinus coggygria
Spectacular ornamental shrub for its smoke-like inflorescence.
The smoke bush is a hardy, easy-to-grow shrub that needs an outdoor location with full sun (at least 5 hours per day) to develop its purple foliage and showy summer flower plumes at their best. Watering should be infrequent, as it is highly drought-tolerant and well suited to Mediterranean climates; overwatering is more harmful than underwatering. It withstands very low temperatures (down to -20 °C), so no winter protection is needed. Plant it in autumn or spring in well-drained soil and allow enough space, as it can reach 4 metres in height and 3.5 metres in width.