When my husband first came to the States over a decade ago, I tasked him with filling in what I affectionately referred to as the 'party hat corner' of my garden back in the Rose City. It literally was a rectangular city lot with a little triangle that stuck out the back corner and was a shambles when I first bought the place, needing something special to fill it in. We went to the nursery and he chose an assortment of dark purple plants, from elderberry to calla lilies to this beautiful smoke bush that grew like crazy and was right at home back there. We didn't have one at the farm nor in the cottage in the city we downsized to, but coming to the Valley and wanting to create a natural sound barrier in our front garden (for some reason the city won't allow fences over 4' in front yards...wtf is that all about y'all?!), I knew we needed a smoke bush. My honey picked out this one which looks very similar to the traditional smoke bush EXCEPT that its leaves go golden in fall. So cool eh?
It's now just beginning to bloom and I am so digging the flecks of gold that they look like on first glance. Can you even imagine this at 8 or 9 feet?! I'm loving it...
Mmm..mmmm! Truly an awesome plant, soft and beautiful foliage...