October Plant of the Month

The ONE plant you need in October…

October is when the garden can suddenly feel like it’s winding down… the herbaceous bits are flopping, the summer colour is fading, and you need something that brings the interest without asking you to do very much. Enter Cotinus coggygria, aka the Smoke Bush 🔥

This is one of those real ‘doer’ shrubs that earns its keep all year round, but in October it really comes into its own. Big, rounded leaves turn the most vibrant shades of red, orange, gold and scarlet, and if you go for a purple-leaved variety, you get moody drama all summer followed by full autumn fireworks!

✅ Incredible autumn colour

✅ Gorgeous foliage from spring through to autumn, with varieties ranging from fresh green to deep plum-purple (and note that whilst it does lose its leaves for winter, it is one of the last to fall and one of the first to come back in spring)

✅ In summer, mature plants produce soft, hazy flower plumes that give it the name Smoke Bush

✅ Brilliant as a statement shrub, backdrop plant, or small tree if you’ve got room to let it do its thing

✅ Happy in full sun or light shade, but the purple-leaved varieties give their best colour in full sun ☀️

✅ Low maintenance — it doesn’t need any regular pruning

✅ If you want to keep it more compact, you can prune it hard in late winter which will also have the added benefit of giving you lovely larger leaves (although fewer flowers for that summer)

Cotinus can get big, so if space is tight, look for more compact varieties or be prepared to prune it back in late winter.

If your garden needs more base colour and structure as well as some autumn interest, Cotinus is the one for you.

As always, if you want to make your garden work harder all year round but you don’t know what to plant where, email vicki@thesurreygardencoach.co.uk and we can chat about how I can help you ✨