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Key characteristics

Family: Anacardiaceae
Height: 4 to 6 feet
Width: 4 to 6 feet
Flower color: Pinkish-beige, appearing as fluffy "smoke-like" plumes
Foliage color: Green, turning orange-red in fall
Bloom time: Early summer to late summer
Light: Full sun
Water: Low to moderate
Maintenance: Low
Growing zone: USDA zones 5 to 8
Wildlife: Attracts pollinators, including bees and butterflies

Shrubs

Cotinus coggygria ‘Young Lady’

Young Lady Smoke Bush

Cotinus coggygria 'Young Lady' produces airy panicles of tiny yellow flowers from late spring into summer, followed by feathery pink to mauve hairs that envelop the shrub in soft, smoky clouds. Rounded to oval leaves are medium green throughout the growing season before developing warm shades of yellow, orange, and red in autumn. Abundant flower panicles appear even on young plants, creating a prolonged, billowing display that often nearly obscures the foliage.

Light

Full sun

Water

Low to moderate

Bloom time

Early summer to late summer

Find this plant

Works well in

Sun Gardens
Specimen Plants
Borders
Pollinator Gardens

Companion plants

Tickseed · Russian sage · Potentilla · Fountain grass · Basket-of-gold · Lily of the Nile

Design tip

Billowing pinkish-white plumes give this compact smokebush an unusually soft presence for a shrub of its size. Echoing that airy texture with fine grasses nearby creates a graceful summer composition, while contrasting rounded foliage keeps the planting from becoming visually wispy or indistinct.