Smoke bushes, Cotinus, are among my favorite of small trees. They have superlative color, appealing form, and look excellent in the gardens, especially with their fluffy, hazy, smoke-like puffs that appear this time of year.
I always try to incorporate unique and interesting plantings into all my gardens. I have many smoke bushes around my Bedford, New York farm - in the sunken garden behind my Summer House, around my pool, in the beds outside my Tenant House where my daughter and grandchildren stay when they visit, outside my main greenhouse, and lining both sides of the long carriage road that runs through one of my hayfields - a gorgeous allée of dark burgundy Cotinus.
All the smoke bushes are looking so gorgeous and lush - here are some photos, enjoy.
Cotinus, also known as smoke bush and smoke tree, is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the family Anacardiaceae, closely related to sumacs. This one is a royal purple smoke bush with its stunning dark red-purple foliage.
The leaves of the smoke bush are about one-and-a-half to three inches long and ovate, or oval like, in shape with parallel veins.
The name “smoke bush” comes from these billowy hairs attached to the flower clusters which remain in place through the summer.
These smoke bushes are in the garden outside my gym building, where I can admire them before and after exercising.
Nearby are these green smoke bushes, with their light pinkish puffs.
This time of year, the oval leaves are green or deep purple, but then light up in yellows, oranges, and reds in autumn offering great color through the seasons.
Here is a group outside my main greenhouse – they are so lush. The spectacular foliage stands out so beautifully above the hosta plants.
I mix some of the varieties in this area to show off the differing colors.
When planting, be sure to keep it from drying out, especially during its first growing season. Once the smoke bush is properly established it is quite drought-tolerant.
The Cotinus has an upright habit when young and spreads wider with age. This one rises above the shorter hornbeam hedge with its beautiful “smoke.”
The only mandatory pruning is to remove dead or damaged wood, but the shrubs will also tolerate hard pruning to shape them or rejuvenate them if needed.
These smoke bushes are on one side of my Summer House garden terrace. We did not prune these in the past year, so it looks very full and widespread.
This one in the back of the Summer House garden is showing off brilliant light colored plumes under the shade of the great ginkgo tree. One can also see some alliums in front of it.
This smoke bush is planted in the garden outside my Tenant House. This garden is actually called the Stewartia garden, where I also have many Stewartia trees – not surprising, of course, since my name is “Stewart.”
I also have Cotinus coggygria ‘Royal Purple’ growing along the outside of my pool fence. These are mixed in with a collection of Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Diabolo.’ Physocarpus, commonly called ninebark, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rosaceae, native to North America and northeastern Asia.
I planted this hedge in 2018 when these were just about knee-high. Now, these smoke bushes are about six-feet tall and disguise the pool fence almost completely.
These are also covered with the airy puffs. The puffs consist of many filaments which make up a cloud of color on the current season’s growth.
And, if one crushes a smoke bush’s leaves, they have a smell similar to a radish.
Smoke bushes should be planted in full sun or light shade, but they do well in almost any soil type and most any pH level. The ideal circumstance is slightly sandy loam, but they can thrive in rocky soils. The important thing is to plant them where the soil drains well. This Cotinus is just one of about 100 that flank the carriage road through my hayfield.
We planted this allée in 2019 and it has thrived ever since with such beautiful growth. Smoke bushes look great in the landscape and are a pretty choice for massing or for hedges.
Behind the smoke bushes are taller London plane trees – the color is so amazing right now. I hope this inspires you to plant a smoke bush in your garden – it is easy to care for and provides so much natural beauty in return. Happy summer!
I am always so happy to have fresh, organic produce growing at the farm - everything I grow is shared with family and friends, used for video and print shoots, and saved for making my delicious daily green juice.
This year, we're all especially excited about the new vegetable garden. Everything is growing so beautifully. While we have many vegetables already mature and ready for picking, planting is always done in succession - meaning we drop new seeds every 7 to 21 days in order to maintain a consistent supply of harvestable produce throughout the season. Last week, my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, planted new crops of carrots and beets, as well as an entire bed of okra. Seeds came from two of our favorite sources, Johnny’s Selected Seeds and Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.
Enjoy these photos.
My gardeners are constantly checking the progress in the vegetable garden and seeding every couple of weeks, so we always have something to pick. On this day, Ryan planted more carrots, beets, and a new bed of okra.
Meanwhile, look at the growing cabbages! These are the most beautiful we’ve ever had – each one more perfect than its neighbor. And they’re so big!
Here’s one of our cauliflower heads. Cauliflower is slow-growing, needing 100 days, or three months, to reach maturity. Unlike broccoli, which has a domed head of tightly packed edible flower buds, a cauliflower head has dense, curd-like plant tissues with a soft texture and mildly sweet, nutty flavor.
And here’s just one of the heads of broccoli growing. Recently, I picked a head of broccoli that was more than two and a half pounds.
And this is is a Napa cabbage – another big beauty.
In this bed, we have our growing carrots. The tops are already quite tall. It will be a few more weeks before we harvest any carrots, but it’s a good time to seed the back half of the bed, so there is another fresh crop following this one.
Ryan uses this bed preparation rake from Johnny’s Selected Seeds to create furrows in the soil. Hard plastic red tubes slide onto selected teeth of the rake to mark the rows. The furrows don’t have to be deep. In general, seeds should be planted at a depth of two times the width, or diameter, of the actual seed. A seed that’s about 1/16-of-an-inch thick should be planted an eighth-of-an-inch deep.
These seeds will be planted about an inch deep. Among the carrot varieties, these are Yellowstone pelleted carrot seed. These carrots will have six to eight inch long roots and a deeper color than most other yellow carrot varieties.
Ryan plants the seeds in rows that are about a foot apart. All the beds are raised slightly and all surrounded by wood frames – more than 40 beds in this half-acre garden. Raised bed gardening allows good drainage, prevents soil compaction, and provides protection for those plants that may otherwise get trampled.
Here are the seeds dropped along the length of the furrow. We always plant a variety of carrots in all the different colors – red, yellow, white, purple, black, and orange.
Then Ryan carefully back fills all the furrows in the bed until all the seeds are covered with soil.
In this bed, Ryan creates more rows for beets. Look at the growing beets at the end – so lush and green. I grow beets through the year. Beets are sweet and tender – and one of the healthiest foods. Beets contain a unique source of phytonutrients called betalains, which provide antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and detoxification support.
Here, Ryan writes out small markers, so we can keep track of what varieties are growing and which ones we want to grow again.
Many of our seeds come from Johnny’s Selected Seeds in central Maine – a company I’ve been using for quite some time. Johnny’s Selected Seeds is a privately held, employee-owned organic seed producer. Johnny’s offers hundreds of varieties of organic vegetable, herb, flower, fruit and farm seeds that are known to be strong, dependable growers.
Here are the beet seeds in the palm of Ryan’s hand. It’s hard to believe these tiny seeds produce such beautiful vegetables within weeks. We grow both red and gold beets.
Here he is dropping the seeds into the bed. The beetroot is the taproot of the beet plant, and is often called the table beet, garden beet, red or golden beet or simply… beet. Beets are highly nutritious and very good for maintaining strong cardiovascular health. It’s low in calories, contains zero cholesterol, and is rich in folates, vitamin-A, B-complex, and antioxidants.
Once all the seeds are dropped, Ryan uses a soft rake to back fill again until all the seeds are covered. We should see sprouts within the next week.
And then in this bed, Ryan makes two big trenches for our okra seeds. When planting okra, Space okra plants at least 10 inches apart in a very sunny area that has fertile, well-drained soil.
We have a variety of okra seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company. Started in 1998 as a hobby, it has since grown into North America’s largest heirloom seed company. I love okra, but for some, okra is too slimy when cooked. Okra is very healthy, however – it’s high in fiber, vitamin-C and full of antioxidants.
Ryan plants the okra seeds about 1/2 to 1 inch deep and at least several inches apart in a row. These plants need room to grow.
Once they germinate, Ryan will check the young sprouts and pull any that seem to be too weak or not growing properly.
Ryan covers the rows with soil and then gives everything a good drink. Here, okra can be seeded into the garden as late as July and still produce a good late-summer crop.
This garden looks prettier every day. I am so happy with its progress. How are your vegetables doing this season?
Here at my Bedford, New York farm, spring container planting continues with a group of beautiful bromeliads.
During the warmer months, I always display lots of potted plants around my home - on the terrace parterre, in the courtyard behind my Winter House, on the stone ledges around my carport, along the carriage roads, and various other locations. Last week, my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, planted a collection of bromeliads for display around my pool. Bromeliads are members of the Bromeliaceae plant family. They feature striking, sword-shaped leaves and a bright, unusual-looking bloom. One of the most well-known bromeliads is the pineapple. These plants are native to tropical North and South America with about half growing in the ground and the remainder as epiphytes, or air plants, that grow on trees or rocks.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
I have a good collection of these potted bromeliads. They will look great planted in small groups around my pool. Many bromeliads are epiphytes, which means they grow by clinging to a surface such as a tree, though they also can be grown in pots.
Ryan sized up the plants and grouped them next to each ornamental urn ready for planting.
Some of the urns are larger than others, but all have drainage holes at the bottom.
To start, Ryan places a shard at the bottom of each planter. We always save shards to cover drain holes. It keeps dirt from falling through the hole while making sure there is still room for proper drainage. Saving the shards from broken pots is a great way to repurpose those pieces.
Ryan fills the container with a fast-draining potting soil that holds moisture but drains well.
Then he sprinkles a generous amount of all-purpose plant fertilizer into each pot.
This fertilizer is packaged in prills, meaning it has been pelletized and is made for slow-release. It is also neater, easier to handle, and doesn’t produce as much dust.
Ryan creates a hole for the first bromeliad plant. Bromeliads have small root systems, so the holes need not be too deep.
Then he gently removes the plant from its pot and teases its roots to stimulate growth.
Here is a closer look at this bromeliad’s roots.
Most of these containers will hold about three or four plants. Ryan places them, so each one has enough room to grow.
Bromeliads prefer bright light without direct sun exposure, but some will also tolerate full sun.
Most bromeliads grow as a stemless rosette of leaves that may be symmetrical or twisted and curled.
The leaves may be broad and leathery or fine and wiry. Many are colorfully banded and variegated.
This afternoon is quite rainy, but Ryan continues to plant knowing they’ll definitely get a good drink of water.
Here are two planters already done – they will fill out these pots nicely during the summer.
The bromeliad’s strap-shaped leaves can also come with red, purple, orange, and yellow markings. This one has almost burgundy colored spots.
Most bromeliads only bloom once in their lifetime before producing new plant offshoots. This one will bloom in bright pink. Bromeliad blooms last up to six months, which is nice for the plant’s lone flower show.
Ryan also brings a collection of wooden shims which will be used to raise the pots off the ground just enough for the water to properly drain.
At one end of my pool I have these staddle stones. Staddle stones were originally used in the 17th and 18th centuries as support bases for granaries, hayricks, and game larders. They typically looked like giant stone mushrooms, but mine are square – a more rare and unique version.
All seven of the round planters are now potted up with beautiful bromeliads. Even in the rain they look great.
And just as Ryan finishes planting, the rain slows down to just a light sprinkle, but all the plants got a good watering. Thanks, Ryan.
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