Golden Spirit® Smoke Tree (Smokebush)

Golden Spirit® is the trade name for Cotinus coggygria ‘Ancot’, a deciduous smoke bush whose rounded leaves open bronze, turn golden yellow and lime green, then develop warm autumn tints. Published profiles differ on mature dimensions and flowering: RHS gives a much larger range than Oregon State University, and the patent reported no flowers during its observations. [RHS’s exact selection profile](https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/137770/cotinus-coggygria-golden-spirit-ancot/details), [Oregon State’s Landscape Plants entry](https://landscapeplants.oregonstate.edu/plants/cotinus-coggygria-golden-spirit), and [the ‘Ancot’ patent](https://patents.google.com/patent/USPP13082P3/en) document these differences. ## Garden Use Use Golden Spirit® for foliage color in a shrub border or as a specimen. RHS describes bronze new leaves turning golden yellow, with coral, red, and orange autumn tints; the patent records golden-yellow leaves suffused with lime green and amber, burgundy, scarlet, and green autumn color. Flowering is variable: RHS notes insignificant green flowers in plumes, whereas Oregon State cites the patent’s observation that none were seen and reports mixed nursery accounts. ## Growing Conditions It grows in full sun or partial shade and prefers well-drained soil. Oregon State notes USDA Zone 5 and warns that leaves may scorch when the soil becomes exceptionally dry; the RHS H rating is a UK measure and is not converted here. ## Maintenance Pruning is optional and changes the display: RHS describes ordinary shrub pruning and hard pruning for larger leaves, while noting that the latter prevents flowers. Choose a pruning style according to whether foliage or plumes matter more.