Smoke bushes are shapely rounded shrubs or small trees. There are green and purple-leafed forms, both of which are covered in summer with a smoky haze of soft open flower plumes. Cotinus 'Grace' is a purple-leafed smoke bush, bearing a showy display of pink-purple flowers in summer, followed in September and October by an incendiary change of leaf colour to an increasingly brilliant purple-orange-red. The Royal Horticultural Society has given it its prestigious Award of Garden Merit (AGM).
Grow Continus 'Grace' in well-drained fertile soil in full sun or partial shade. Mulch annually with well-rotted manure or leafmould. It requires little or no pruning.
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Cotinus ‘Grace’ and wildlife
Cotinus ‘Grace’ has no particular known value to wildlife in the UK.