Something you don't see everyday...

...Cotinus obovatus used in a parking lot planting. Once in a while you see something that surprises and delights!

Scott

And here's a giant Cotinus coggygria I photographed recently at Spring Grove Cemetery. Unrelated to the theme of the thread, except perhaps for the irony of a local and famous arboretum growing the ordinary and a strip mall parking lot growing the unusual.

Scott

Good choice since they like drier soil. I will never understand why Turkey oak-Quercus laevis is not used for the same purpose in my area. The soil in these parking lot strips can get really hot and dry during the summer.

I'd like to add a thought regarding that siting of Cotinus obovatus. It seems that this tree is especially susceptible to Verticilium wilt. Perhaps such an isolated, dry, and seemingly hostile site is an advantage over this pathogen?

Scott

Oops! Escambia, it seems like you and me were thinking more or less the same thought at the same moment. As they say, great minds think alike.

Scott

Gentleman, I just yesterday planted a Cotinus coggygria "Royal Purple". It is, at this point, trained to tree form. Any tips on maintaining this tree/shrub? I want to keep it in tree form. It is in acid (6.5) sandy loam on the south side of a mature weeping hemlock. It will receive full sun and no wind as there is a privacy fence on the three other sides. It was also priced rather inexpensively: 7 ft. B&B $32.00. To me that signals that this plant is something that grows/propagates easily. Am I correct?

Scott, you may have something there about verticillium and dry soils. You may have read in another thread here (I think about Xanthceras?) that I have a wilt problem in my yard. My whole body cringed when I read your account about the susceptability of Cotinus obovatus, because I have one in my yard. It too is in the hottest, dryest part of my land, and I have had it since 1991. It is such a glorious tree. People stop every fall during its color changes, wanting to know what kind of tree it is. Anyway, no wilt symptoms yet.

Rick

Yes, C. coggygria propagates easily and grows quickly to marketable size. It can be maintained in tree form by removing the occasional suckers, but you might consider making it a multi-stemmed little tree like the one in Scott's second photo, in case something happens to what is now the main (only) stem.

Both species grow in hot, dry sites in the wild. Apparently they have little reason to fear Verticillium there and have not evolved much resistance to it.

Guy S.

I haven't had a chance to design a parking lot in a couple of years but was planning on using Cotinus obovatus for plantings there. Looks like someone beat me to it. How do they do with salt? The salt truck drivers get paid by the pound here.