Featured Tree: Royal Purple Smoketree

Holding true to its name, the royal purple smoketree boasts blooms that are wispy clumps of pink filaments that look like puffs of smoke. This characteristic has led to many nicknames, including cloud tree, wig tree, mist tree, and even Jupiter’s beard.

This easy-to-grow specimen offers plenty of options for use in your yard. It can either flourish as a multi-stemmed shrub, be pruned to a single-trunk tree, or be cut back every year to maintain a smaller bushy plant. The foliage also provides great fall color, with leaves turning from blue-green to yellow, red, and purple.

The smoke tree thrives in much of the U.S., including hardiness zones 4–8. It adapts to many types of soils and grows to a height of 10–15 feet.