I like the shrubs purple hazel (Corylus maxima purpurea), black elder Sambucus nigra ‘Guincho Purple’ and the smoke bush Cotinus coggygria.
When plants such as barberry, grapevine, ornamental grasses, and smoke bush are in their full glory, they create a garden's final drama of the year.
Depending upon your point of view, smoke tree or smoke bush (Cotinus coggygria, zones 4 to 8) is a treelike shrub or shrubby tree.
One plant which is often sold as a shrub but if left untouched, will eventually reach mammoth proportions, is cotinus coggygria, or as it is more commonly known, the smoke bush.
The smoke bush's few requirements are full sun and a well-drained soil that's low in fertility.