Cotinus coggygria is a Mediterranean native but also grows in Southwest Asia, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and China. It thrives on sunny and dry, rocky slopes up to altitudes of 2400 meters. It reasonably thrives in my low-lying mediterranean garden at 50 masl but it doesn’t grow very big, staying far below its potential of 2-3 meters height. Apparently it is best to grow them in dry, poor soils to keep them compact and long-lived.
I have two cotinus in the garden, a small one in green and a larger one in purple. They were already here when we arrived and I didn’t know much about them but since then I’ve grown to love their fluffy look when in bloom and the lovely autumn colors of the purple-leaved one. I haven’t yet found out how to trim them so they grow into a truly harmonious form though…
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