Name: Cotinus x ‘Grace’ aka Grace smoke bush

Type of Plant: A large shrub that has colorful foliage and delicate “smoke-like” flowers.

 Why I Love/Hate this plant: I love this smoke bush because the leaves are colorful all season, and when it’s in flower it’s even more attractive. This shrub grows quickly and is perfect in full to part sun.

A Word to the Wise: Because this plant grows quickly you might want to prune it down hard in the spring and then clip off tall shoots in later summer, cutting the stems in half so that it stays full instead of lean and lanky.

This is the beautiful fall color on Cotinus ‘Grace.’ It’s especially lovely when backlit by the setting sun.

The white marks show where this young smokebush should be pruned. You could trim it even lower if you need to. These plants rebound with fresh growth very quickly.

In spring and early summer Grace has purple to bluish foliage.