Winecraft Black^® Smokebush Cotinus coggygria

Mixed feelings but ultimately still love. Two seasons in on the WineCraft and mixed feelings because it’s not exactly as promoted. First, I’m in love with the beautiful deep purple. However I planted three because the plant size was supposed to be rounder and smaller, and rabbit resistant. Mine have massive shoots that are straight up over 6ft. I have to prune to keep shape so I don’t see blooms. My leaves turn brown in fall with a little orange in Fall, and rabbits ate to the ground last winter and I ended up placing wire around to prevent total destruction. I’m not rating lower because despite all of this it is healthy, beautiful and easy to grow which is a gardener’s dream in Minnesota.

I have two Winecraft Black smokebushes. The color is gorgeous; I'd say the foliage color on the website is true to real life. Fall color for me has not been impressive so far and the leaves mostly just turn brown. The website states 4'-6' tall and wide. Mine are closer to 6' wide and 8-9 feet tall. I've read that they do not need to be pruned, but for me, that is not an ideal look. The FIRST smokebush I planted in spring 2019 was extremely small. I did not prune it. Despite its small size, it grew two or three branches about 7-8 feet tall by the end of the season. In early spring 2020, I pruned it to about 14 inches, which resulted in multiple new branches from the tips but bare stems below; however, there were a few new branches from the base. It had about six branches in total that were 8 feet tall. In spring 2021, I pruned it to the ground. It is now almost October and it has twelve branches that are 8 to 9 feet tall. The SECOND smokebush I planted in spring 2020 on the opposite side of my house. I did not prune it in 2020 or this year, 2021. On the lower 1/3 of the shrub, some branches had leaves but more were completely bare. It did put out new growth from the base but not enough to cover the bare branches or make it look full at the bottom. This is not a look I care for, so going forward I will prune both to the ground or maybe a few inches. As far as flowers (smoke), I have not had any from either shrub, even the one that I did not prune for two years. I deducted 1 star due to its overall size being larger than advertised, and I really wanted something that did not need maintenance, but overall I am glad I have this shrub in my landscape for the color that it brings.

So I've had two of these for two years now. I managed to snag them from a local nursery (pretty pricy but I needed them in my life) after seeing it on garden Answer. Red foliage is an extremely important color in the garden, and you'd be hard pressed to find a red foliage quite like this. The first year they were both maybe a foot tall, kind of wimpy. But now, in their second year, they're at least 4 feet tall and branching nicely. No flowers, but honestly I'm growing them for the leaves. I have each one planted between two endless summer mopheads hydrangeas- my hope being that they can be trained to shade the hydrangeas from the summer sun a bit. The red leaves look fantastic next to the purple pink blue flowers of the hydrangeas!

I bought a Wine Craft Smoke bush last fall. It came to my house as a 4" baby. Today, June 2-2019, it is 8-9" tall and round and looking fabulous! I am in the high country of the southwest and I am very pleased with my purchase so far.

I wanted a purple smokebush, but the available varieties were all too large for my site. After seeing a youTube video from Garden Answer about this plant, I decided I had to have it; a no-brainer. Since local garden centers weren't yet selling it, I opted to order it from an online vendor. The 1gal pot I received was growing beautifully, and is now doing great in my garden. The color is fantastic and it's the perfect shade of purple for this spot in my garden. I've been encouraging other local nurseries to begin ordering this asap.