Keep in mind that there are two variants of white smoke. One of them being steam - it being fairly easy to detect as it dissipates into the air rather quickly. As opposed to the white/slightly blueish smoke which will sort of drift away with the wind. A few of the engines I have will cough up a bit of white/blue smoke on start up. But does not last, I see no oil loss, and I detect no foul smelling fumes... I would say keep your eyes on the situation - if your not burning any significant amounts of oil then your in good shape. Remember - some oil is creeping past the valve guides and the rings is a normal thing - and this will be seen on the next startup - especially if the motor has sat a few days. I can also say that on one of my machines - I was able to detect that it smoked more when I parked it facing downhill. I guess the bulk of the oil settled in a certain location.

Were we smoking or drinking anything funny while sitting outside in the rain???? Could be a fungus blasting its spores. Could be bursts of heat from normal composting, you just saw it clear-er because the heavy rain cooled the air. I know that just a pile of mulch can heat up enough to smoke during the winter - when you can see your breath kinda cold. So, do we need to send you some "more interesting" conversation topics to liven up that grillside chat fest? maybe some crowd pleasing jokes? shadow puppets? a portable tv? radio?

These vary in flowering behavior, same as other shrubs. If the foliage remains good-looking all summer lack of water probably not the problem. Maybe future results will be better. Propagations of 'Royal Purple' I've bought and planted have seemed to lack vigor, wanted to be watered. Otherwise Smoke Bush should grow well here without coddling - as long as exposure is sunny, soil is well-drained and not infested with Verticillium. Noted making up part of the continental climate scrub growing near the Great Wall, along with peach trees and lilacs. Perhaps the most impressive specimens I've seen have been in eastern WA.

A little late, but all I've ever used is Mesquite, Hickory and Apple. Found those in the local grocery, prior to Wegmans, which I think carries cherry, too. This site sells a lot of different kinds - about $5 for 2 pounds, doesn't sound bad, but I didn't check the shipping. I know nothing about the site, either, but they sure seem to have everything. Here is a link that might be useful: Barbecuewood.com