They won't survive the winter in a pot that size if left outdoors. My smoke tree gets about 6 hours, and I often think it needs more. It will be interesting to see what others say.

Hi Eliza ann I am in zone 4b-5 and I usually get a fair amount of die back each year. I would think a pot would be a disappointment for you. 3 hours sun is not enough. they need full sun.

Hi Eliza_ann
I have a purple smoke bush (Cotinus) that is 4 years old that gets about 5 hours of sun, I read somewhere that the smoke is more pronounced if not in full sun? I bought it from Loblaws and I have never pruned it. Right now its tallest branch is about 9 - 10 ft tall.

Hi there. this is my first posting! I've been benefiting from looking over this site's postings for a while now.I planted a royal purple smoke bush 4 years ago - moved it to a new spot last year. In both locations, it recieved 5-6 hours of sun a day - beginning in morning. First location was exposed. Current location is more protected. It has never flowered and has been slow to grow, although this year it's had some good growth. It's in well drained garden soil at the edge of spruce and hardwood trees and surrounded by other shrubs. Am I missing something? Doing something wrong? Thanks for any help!

Trish,
Well, I had to give up on ours this year, but purely due to a 'new-to-us rescued' Black Lab, which used to chew everything in sight. We may try to get another Cotinus, but will wait a couple of years.

Cotinus is slow to start in the season - a late rieser you might say. This fools a lot of folks into thinking it's dead, but not so.
It blooms on old wood, so if you prune, it should only be done after it blooms and sparingly. Personally, I wouldn't touch it.
The spot you have it in sounds good. Ideally, it would be happier in more sun, but I have seen a couple of nice ones in the Halifax area this year that are in 5 hours of sun and are doing very well.
Keep it happy with a good mulching of compost, and don't let it dry out for the first couple of years. I'm not sure if you live close to Halifax, but they sell great municipal compost in the month of May at their facility for a bargain. This would be ideal.

Hope the Cotinus grows well for you, and welcome to GW!

Nicole from NS.

.... and don't let the rabbits near it. Mine also has not bloomed in 4 years. However, I do have rabbits raiding the garden. This past winter they chewed it down to the ground. Honestly a 5 x 5 foot bush, down to the ground. No wonder it didn't bloom. Next year, I think I'll try it in a different location, if I can get it up and out of the ground this fall. It did come back and now is about 2.5 feet high.

anyone tried propogating these smoke bushes? I tried but when I cut a little branch off it had a milky white liquid coming out. It didn't work but if anyone know's how let me now.

I've not heard of cuttings but propagation from seeds. They can take sun all day but do poorly in dry soil. They defoliate in late fall or in winter out here. Some turn into small trees. Here's one that has flowered in Victoria.

Cheers

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:532372}}

Just outside Ottawa, our purple smoke shrub is now about 15 years old. It is spreading at ground level, and some of the branches just naturally "layer" themselves, forming roots where the bark touches the ground for some time. I am quite certain that if I cut the branch off behind the spot which has rooted, the branch tip with roots could be lifted and replanted somewhere else. Each year, we wait well into late June to make sure that all the branches that are going to leaf out have done so, then we trim away any bits that have been winter killed. Works just fine. The plant which came home in a pot in the car's back seat now measures about 12 feet X 12 feet approximately. We have interplanted things that look good with the deep red foliage, like a wonderful white rose shrub "Henry Hudson" and some good old-fashioned orange day lilies. The purple smoke shrub makes them look fantastic!

There is a massive purple smoke bush on the trail near our house, in full sun. It blooms ever year and there are several little ones growing all around it, so it must seed itself. You can probably grow some, yourself, from seed, but that would be a slow method of propagation.

My smoke bush here in Vancouver BC was bought for $5 about 4 years ago and has done well in a very large clay pot. It is in a protected spot and I don't think it gets more than 3 hours sun. It does "flower". I have to cut it back to contain it in a small space.
This year there are several "spit" each about 1/2 inch on the branches. Does anyone know what this is?

It all depends on zone zone zone. In Vancouver, where one can even go zonal denial and plant banana trees and palm trees, you can expect the winter to be much milder. Over here in Ontario - it's very different. We get an average of - 20 C and even more with wind chills. The freeze and thaws of winter will wreak havoc on a container as small as Eliza described. Possibly if one had a giant container, heavily mulched, it will survive. In anycase, smoke trees enjoy full sun conditions in order to show it's best.

ianna

I am no expert on this tree (though do have one which I treat more as a dieback shrub). Based on my experiment with my Vanhoutei spirea in shade, you might expect your plant to perform as follows if it gets too little light:

-if it's a purple cultivar it might not be as purple (or maybe it will be okay).
-the plant might have a more open habit.
-the blooms might not be as plentiful, and, at least with my spirea,
-the leaves might actually be a bit bigger in size (I attribute this to the plant trying to get as much light as possible in the shade).
-rate of growth might not be as rapid.

But, the fun may be in experimenting. As for the pot culture, technically they won't survive winter in a pot above ground, but I have had a few zone 3 hardy plants survive zone 3 winters outdoors, such as my apple tree seedlings in small pots under just snowcover.

Glen

Hello!

I live in Kelowna BC. I bought a Royal Purple a few weeks ago and planted it in my front flower bed. It gets the sun all day which I was told was good for it and it gets lots of water. I am concerned because the branches have become very hard and break easy. They also have turned a very dark brown colour and I see no sign of buds. Is there something wrong with the tree? What can I do to help it?

Thank you for the help!!

Casey

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v257/BrenMack/geocache070.jpg

I have a royal purple smokebush myself. Yours looks very healthy actually. There may have been some smaller branches that died back during winter but expect buds to appear in the lower limbs. Mine has tiny signs of life but I won't expect more until it gets warmer. If in doubt, scratch the trunk just below the bark surface and if it's a lively green, it's fine.

I would really like to plant a smoke tree in this 18inch container that I have on the sunniest part of my balcony. Any suggestions or advice?

Container gardening can be tricky in winter. How deep is this pot, and what is it made of. Also where is your balcony facing. North, South, East West. Last is the area protected from winds. The reason behind all these questions, is to determine how warm or cold it can get in that area.

Containers ideally should have some protection over winter when the freezes can destroy the roots of the plant. in the ground, it would survive. In a pot, it�s exposed to the chills of winter which may kill the plant.

To plant a tree in a pot, you are effectively limiting it`s size. So the larger the pot, the taller the tree. If you want to keep the pot small, you stunt the tree. This is how bonsai is done. Potted trees also require root pruning every 5 years because they get root bound. I do not know if smoke trees have ever survived root pruning.

Water is more often as this is a container.

You can Bonsai smoke trees, so they can grow in small pots. You will have to water it more often..

You should try it.

Nes

I bought a smoke tree from Lowe's for $7.99 because it was so cheap. I haven't planted it yet cause I can't figure out where to put it. There is a row of large dogwoods & an Oak which shade a good bit of the yard. The sunny side has a Japanese Maple which is the same color as the smoke tree; I'd rather put it somewhere else for design sake. Anyway my question is: looking at the pictures, I wonder if it's natural shape is more of a shrub than a tree unless someone prunes the bottom? Knowing the natural shape of this plant would help me decide where to put it.

it can look like a small tree (10 - 12 feet). Mine resembles a tree but that is due to careful pruning.