If your garden is dull, and lacking in ‘umph’, then we have the answer. The secret of wonderful gardens is the Midas touch – a touch of gold. Golden foliage really brings your garden to life, and you certainly get a pile of gold from the Winecraft Gold Smoke Bush. You might only know the awkward, big old smoke bush, in purple or green, that always grew into a monster that ate your garden beds. Not this one. Growing no more than 6 feet tall and wide, and even a little less with some trimming, it quickly becomes a glowing ball of gold in your garden, setting your beds alight with glory. Even better, unlike a gold-leaf evergreen, which looks pretty much the same 365 days of the year, this bush changes through the seasons. In spring it is a vibrant fireball, with every golden leaf edged and veined with burning orange. This changes into pure molten gold, and then settles for the summer into a cooler, and super-fashionable, chartreuse yellow, topped with a unique cloud of smoky-yellow flowers. Then, when the cool nights of fall arrive, it re-ignites into a glowing ember of bright red. Wow, you won’t believe it until you grow it.

Growing the Winecraft Gold Smoke Bush

Size and Appearance

The Winecraft Gold Smoke Bush is a deciduous shrub with a rounded form, growing in a few years into a bushy plant between 4 and 6 feet tall and wide. It doesn’t push out in all directions like the common old smoke bush, but stays neat and compact, with dense branching. The smooth, near-round leaves are about 3 inches long, carried on a long leaf stalk. New spring leaves are bright yellow, with the leaf edge and every vein neatly accented in rich orange. From a distance the effect is glowing orange-yellow. The leaves then become solid yellow, and as summer arrives they turn to more chartreuse tones.

During the summer, from June to September, this tree produces its unique smoky flowers. Each branch is topped with a flower head 10 inches long and 8 inches across. It is a fine network of branches and feathery hairs, with small greenish-yellow flowers scattered among them. The effect is like a cloud of smoky gold floating over the bush – truly beautiful. As if all this wasn’t enough, in fall the leaves turn from chartreuse to orange-red, as if you had set the bush on fire. Few if any shrubs pass through such an amazing medley of colors, as if orchestrated by the god of fire.

Using the Winecraft Gold Smoke Bush in Your Garden

The compact size of the Winecraft Gold Smoke Bush makes it perfect to plant at the back of beds in smaller gardens, or out on a small lawn area. In large beds it can be planted in the middle, with taller shrubs and small trees behind it. It also makes a spectacular screen along a fence or boundary, and could even be grown in a large planter or half-barrel. It is a perfect companion for dark colored shrubs, especially with the dark-purple leaves of the Winecraft Black Smoke Bush, which grows the same size. It looks great with any darker colors, just remember it is often best to put the gold behind the purple, and not the other way round, for the best impact.

With its compact size this shrub is perfect for use in smaller gardens as a specimen, alone on a lawn or in shrub beds. Use it behind smaller shrubs – it looks amazing with yellow leaves or blooms nearby – or in front of larger ones, depending on your beds. Plant it as a screen along a fence, or beside a path or driveway. It is even small enough to grow for years in planter boxes or a tub, so you can grow it almost anywhere.

Hardiness

The Winecraft Gold Smoke Bush is hardy all the way from zone 4 to 8. In zone 4 it may have some winter-kill to the branch tips, but this doesn’t make much difference to its growth.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

Grow the Winecraft Gold Smoke Bush in full sun for the best colors, especially through summer. Unlike some other golden shrubs, it doesn’t burn in the heat of summer. It can also be planted in partial shade, but it will turn stronger shades of chartreuse sooner, and not color as well in fall. It grows really well in just about any soil, including poor soils, gravels, and urban soil, just as long as it is well-drained. Avoid wet places. You should water regularly for the first couple of years, but once established this plant is very drought resistant and tough.

Pruning and Maintenance

Pests or diseases are almost never problems, and deer normally don’t bother with it. You can keep it more perfectly ball-shaped by trimming in early spring, but if you trim too much, or in summer, then flowering will be reduced significantly. A light trim once the flower heads shrivel will keep it attractive for the fall.

History and Origin of the Winecraft Gold Smoke Bush

The smoke bush, or smoketree, Cotinus coggygria, is also sometimes known by its older name of Rhus cotinus. It can be found growing wild all across Europe and Asia, from southern Europe to China. It grows in wild, barren places, away from trees and on poor soil, which is why it is so tough in our gardens. Wild trees are large, growing as much as 20 feet tall and wide. It is popular all over the world, and we need to go to Beaufort-en-Anjou, in the middle of France, to find the origin of this one. There, at Minier Nurseries, their Research and Development Director, Patrick Pineau, crossed together the old variety Royal Purple’with a gold-leaf variety, Ancot. He grew the seedlings, and in 2009 picked out one he named Mincojau3. This variety is sold in Europe under the trademark name of Golden Lady®. It was patented in the US in 2019, and released by Spring Meadow Nursery, Inc. with the trademark name Winecraft Gold, under their Proven Winners® brand.

Buying the Winecraft Gold Smoke Bush The Tree Center

The Winecraft Gold Smoke Bush truly is one of the very best golden-leaf shrubs available, and also one of the easiest to grow. Set your garden on fire, and turn heads at your flare with color by simply planting this beautiful shrub. Order now though, because amazing new plants like this sell so fast you would think we were holding a fire sale.