Vitex Species, Chaste Tree, Chasteberry, Lilac Chaste Tree, Monk's Pepper

I grow 'shoal creek' vitex. It has dark purple blooms and flowers from May until late August or through the fall here in south Texas. ...Read MoreIt blooms at a young age. Mine were grown as cuttings and the seedlings had blooms! It's a vigorous grower that I expect o trim at least monthly during the growing season.

I have had both the white and purple versions for 25 years. Some receive summer water and some don't even in the 110 deg. weather of cent...Read Moreral California and often without a drop of rain for six months. I prune mine HEAVILY every winter to just a few buds on each branch. They still put on six to 10 feet of new growth each year but stay neat and bloom beautifully. This is the only care they need but without it the blooms are small and the bush unruly filled with brittle dead branchlets.

I brought a spray of Vitex, branches and blue flowers, in for the office at the high school main office. I may have gotten the secretary...Read More in trouble as its leaves and bloom look a lot like Marijuana. (:

It is the last in my garden to leaf out and looks as if it is nothing more than winter kill until late May. It blooms profusely and attracts many butterflies.

This tree can be a beautiful tree if ... and only if ... you keep it trimmed up in standard form. Otherwise, it will grow branches all t...Read Morehe way to the ground and become an eyesore. The other drawback to it's beauty is the fact that it blooms twice during the season - spring and late summer. The blooms must be deadheaded or they will remain on the tree and detract from the attractiveness. I had to drag out a ladder and move it all around and stretch and bend to deadhead the tree twice each season. I eventually removed the two I had in my yard. It was a hard decision because the tree was beautiful .. just way too high maintenance if it is to be kept attractive. If left to grow on it's own it becomes a big unruly mess from ground all the way up.

Valued for its lavender-violet flowers in late summer. There are white and pinkish forms, but I much prefer the violet cultivars like 'Le...Read MoreCompte' and 'Montrose Purple'. The habit is shrubby---this is not a tree.

I've seen several plants here in Z6a that have been reliably wood-hardy. Responds well to hard pruning in spring. Very late to leaf out in spring, and blooms here in late summer.

In Z5 where topgrowth may be killed to the ground, it can be treated like a buddleia or a herbaceous perennial and cut to near the ground in spring. This does not impair flowering, which occurs on new growth. Vitex should be planted in spring, especially towards its northern limit of hardiness.

Reliable sources state that this plant is deer-resistant, as might be expected of a plant with fragrant foliage.

This species has naturalized throughout the southern US, but there is no published evidence that it's ecologically invasive.

The Chaste tree is very easy to grow and I have grown both of mine from cuttings. The youngest is only 3 years old and has a trunk about ...Read More3 feet in diameter. It is about 20 feet high. I know I know it isn't supposed to get that big. But this one did. The parent tree the first cutting is not so big but then I have cut it back repeatedly to keep it in check. It has just gotten too big for the spot where I placed it. A word of warning to new growers. This Bush/Tree has large and invasive roots that spread widely. Do not plant it close to your house or your septic system if you have one. It will crack your foundation and completely destroy the septic tank and drains. Otherwise it is a beautiful Tree and attracts both bees and butterflies. I live north of Memphis in Arlington, Tn.

Just purchased and returned this plant. Between shopping, loading, and unloading the plant I experienced minor skin irritation (very mino...Read Morer burning sensation). Didn't want to risk developing a rash from future pruning so it had to go back.

I just today (August 16th) planted the first of two 5-gallon sized Chaste Trees here in Phoenix, Arizona (zone 9b), on the western side o...Read Moref the house between the house wall and the block wall surrounding the yard. It will get about 5-6 hours of full sun in that spot, with full shade the rest of the time, until the trees get taller. The soil is clay and was rock hard when I dug the hole, so I dug a bigger hole than planned and amended the soil. My expectation is that I should water less than the generic recommendations because of the clay. Here's hoping for lots of blooms and wall shade next year!

My family lived in Brooksville, Fl. which is about 50 miles north of Tampa. We had Vitex plants at our home there. When we moved we mad...Read Moree the mistake of not taking them with us. It has been five years and I finally found a source to get the seeds. This is a beautiful plant and if you collect the seeds are fairly easy to start your own plants. My husband likes to have bee hives and the bees love these plants. They also make good honey.

I live in Ocala, FL and this chaste tree is an amazing plant. I had one when I lived on Hayesville, NC and it did amazing as well. 5 year...Read Mores later the plant is 8-9 feet tall 5-7 feet wide. Great plant!

I love my vitex and have been extremely pleased overall... but I'm trying to find out why one of my five trees is yellowing. I don't kno...Read Morew if it's over/under-watered, wrong pH, diseased, or what. Can anyone help me?

I love these trees. I live in Sunset, Texas. It is hot, hot, hot but my vitex is always pretty.
I have a lot of deer and they ...Read Morehave never bothered my vitex. I planted one inside the fence, one outside. I tend to forget to water the one outside the fence, but it does fine.
I just got a pink one, I want to find out if it behaves the same as the violet ones.

A row of these lovely small trees is growing in the median on NW Expressway between NW Classen and Pennsylvania Avenue here in OKC. I lo...Read Moreve them and so do the many people who come into the nursery to find out what they are. They grow well in the same conditions as crepe myrtle and rose of sharon and are lovely planted along driveways and fence rows. After years of lusting after them, I'm planning to plant mine as a feature tree smack dab in the middle of the backyard. I'll surround it with rosemary, lavendar, and drought hardy, near-native perennials that the bees and butterflies love, such as cone flowers, tick seed, autumn sage, etc.

Vitex was a beautiful and large tree in front of my home and I guess I took it for granted. Other than removing new sprouts from the bark...Read More in the spring and photographing it sometimes (it even had great bones in the winter and looked wonderful with a dusting of the rare snowstorms) I paid it no heed. Apparently it needs little care. Since losing it in the April 27th tornado last year I've really missed it. I have started a new one....just can't even imagine how many years it will take to get to be a huge tree.

I grew this wonderful shrub in Stephenville, TX when I lived there. It was such a delight all summer with its nice foliage and lavender b...Read Moreloom spikes covering the plant. It attracted butterflies and lots of cute bumblebees that I loved to watch working the blossoms.
When I moved to Rolla, MO I wanted to try growing vitex here and had to special order two plants from the local nursery. They are thriving here despite the snowy winters and clay soil.
This is one tough, trouble-free, and drought resistant (once established) plant that I highly recommend.

I ordered some seeds. I hope they grow well down here.

This tree came up in our yard. At first I thought it was pretty and left it. But as it grew and needed pruning the sap caused rashes wh...Read Moreen pruned. It started coming up all over the place and the scent was so bad it gave us allergy headaches so we removed it. There are nicer, less stinky shrubs that are pretty and attract butterflies with none of those concerns.

Vitex has been wonderful! I have two of them and they are doing well. They have added color and brought lots of butterflies and bees.

I have read all the wonderful comments on how butterflies, and bees love this plant, but what I need to know is do deer, and elk like it ...Read More? Or can I plant it outside my fence where they are all the time? Thanks, countryroads

We have not grown this plant ourselves but did come across it here in Muskegon Michigan. The plant was 5ft high and about 5 ft wide, the...Read More bush was edging by surrounding trees and other plants, but was growing rather nicely with good bloom (which is what got our eye) it seemed to be receiving about 6 hours of sun. The owner of the plant did not know the name of it, we had to do a little research, we are going to buy one and try our luck here in ZONE 5.

Vitex is an easy plant to grow in this area. Mine is about 15 feet tall and blooms through a good protion of the summer. I don't have i...Read Moret in the best location as it is being crowded a bit by some evergreens that I am going to remove. This plant thrives on neglect and never flinches in droughts or heat waves. For someone looking for a large bush or small tree to give some needed summer color this is a great and undemanding plant.

Grows beautifully in our desert.
We planted them in full sun with no protection from the wind.
They start blooming in May a...Read Morend continue to bloom into October.
We water once a week in the Spring, and daily when the temperatures reach 90 degrees.
We rarely water them in the winter.
This is a wonderful tree, and the bees love them.

Attractive, tough, adaptable. Here it occasionally gets tricked by late frosts (as it was this spring, with tender new growth damaged by...Read More a freeze), but so do some of the native plants. I find the seeds insipid, at least the ones from my shrub, but I suppose they could be used as a substitute for pepper if one were really desperate for one. Some years I get several flushes of bloom over the growing season. It really seems to thrive in this climate, seasonal droughts, high humidity, low humidity, sudden frosts after weeks of warmth, the whole gamut.

i've had this bush/tree for about 7-8yrs. and am very impressed each summer when it blooms. It's a prodigious bloomer, with spires of da...Read Morerk lavender blooms. If the faded blooms are removed, often later in the Summer/early Fall, another round of blooms can occur. It is planted in full sun and I seldomly give it supplemental watering. Each Spring, I give it Miracle-Grow feeding of 1TBSP per gallon of water. I've never seen a need for more. For me, it has proven to be drought-tolerant. It attracts bumble bees, hummingbirds and butterflies.

I planted this shrub about five years ago to replace an ageing lilac. In that time it has grown from a small one foot high plant into a s...Read Moreprawling 12 foot high and nearly as wide giant. Great screen for my back porch! There is only minimal winter dieback, and it more than makes up for it each summer with 2 feet of new growth. The flowers are great at a time when the spring flowers have finished and only my annuals are blooming. I'm very happy with this shrub.

I received seeds last summer and just for the experiment grew them out and planted them in my Zone 5a garden. I planted them all in diffe...Read Morerent areas of the yard, even put one in a raised bed.

This spring I was amazed to find they all survived our winter!!
Winter lows reached -32C (-26F)

Can't wait for them to get old enough to bloom!!

Grows very nicely here, flowers on and off from spring until fall. Produces many berries, but haven't seen any self-seeding yet.

The Vitex is surviving the 3-week, 100 degree heat/drought here in Middle TN, and blooming. I hardly ever water it. I bought it last ye...Read Morear for $2 at Lowe's clearance.

I love its vigorous, rounded shape and aroma.

Vitex is showy when flowering, even if it doesn't last long. It is a tough plant that will last many years. The only downside is it attra...Read Morects lots of bees, so if you or a family member is allergic I wouldn't recommend it.

We have had this tree for 5 years. It blooms in late July thru early fall. We are in zone 6 (MA) and never have had serious die back - ju...Read Morest some of the branches. It is grown in an the open area and gets some shade and has no protection from winds. It is beautiful in bloom but is very, very late to leaf out. I know of 5 other Vitex in the area and they all survive our winters which can get and stay below 0* for days. I have seen 2 cut to the ground and come back even more beautiful.

My poor Vitex is underneath vines and still a couple of branches are peeking out to get some sun. I'm going to get out there to save it.<...Read Morebr />
25 states!

Vitex, Chaste Tree, Lilac Chaste Tree, Monk's Pepper Vitex agnus-castus is Naturalized in Texas and other States and is considered an inv...Read Moreasive plant in Texas.

this is my first year for this tree. i bought 6 of them online from an herb supplier this spring; they were small plants that i kept pot...Read Moreted until two months ago. since putting them in ground, they are growing like weeds and blooming. i know they can take drought, but the one i planted by the birdbath is 5' tall already, so it likes the extra water. has anyone experienced hornworms on theirs? i pulled 3 of the nasty buggers off of one tree today. nothing on the others, but they totally stripped the one tree. i'm sure it will live, i just didn't realize they ate plants in the verbena family.

I love Vitex. Very drought tolerant, and such a nice smell. Vivid periwinkle (or sometimes bright pink or white) flowers that the bees,...Read More butterflies, and hummingbirds flock to. I basically treat it like a crepe myrtle; it can either be allowed to grow as a bush or be shaped as a single or multitrunked smallish-medium tree. Or as someone else mentioned, it can also be whacked down to ground level each year and will resprout.

This plant is a lot tougher than given credit for. I have grown mine for the last three years, and it has survived the unpredictable Chi...Read Morecago winters with no problems. No dieback for me was evident; I do have it planted on a warm, south wall. It also survived being dug and moved to Indiana last year, withstanding a terrible drought and high temperatures.

Chaste tree thrives here in Alabama. It is very tough, withstanding heat, humidity, and neglect. Another great thing is fast growth and s...Read Morepectacular flowers. The leaves have a spicy scent. It can get quite large with and there are a number of old specimens in my area.

I live in Denver Colorado.My wife and i picked up two of these plants at our local garden center,the only two they had,We have had them f...Read Moreor only one month,so far so good.Will keep informed on there progress.If any one else in a zone 5 has tryed these plants id love to hear from you.

Last year we planted a long row of chaste trees and we love it. Lots of bee and butterfly action. Not much known about it in this area,...Read More but I notice people are waking up to this interesting plant. Noticed in Uvalde paper that the local gardening club had a speaker on "chaste trees." We're looking forward to this wonderful screen from the road. Will either leave them alone or trim bottoms to encourage them to grow into trees. My shrub is primarily 4-5 feet tall.

Vitex as an herbal remedy works for me! In a sense, it gave me my life back.

Overwinters well in Hagerstown MD.
Bushes ~10 ft tall have light blue flowers with shallow cup
which makes excellent bee f...Read Moreorage. The dark purple variety has too deep a cup for bees to work. Bloom is late summer when bee forage is scarce and the bushes are covered with bees. Habit straggles more than a lilac. Have started overwintered seeds in plastic paper cups, slow germination.

Here in Zone 6 the Vitex sometimes dies down to the ground. This year it did not have any dieback at all. It is one of the very last shru...Read Morebs to leaf out in spring. Mine is about 5 feet tall now, and 4 feet across. I got it on clearance at Walmart about 4 years ago. Bees and butterflies love it!

Vitex is a wonderful tree simply because of its beauty! Here in hot and humid New Orleans it's planted around government buildings and in...Read More neutral grounds instead of lilacs, for which it is often mistaken.
Not only is vitex great as an ornamental, but it's also a useful herb. The leaves and blossoms create a slightly sour tea that sooths menstrual and PMS symptoms and consuming the berries promotes a healthy cycle. Men, however, should avoid consuming the plant in any way, as it may lower libido and possibly promote impotence because of the naturally-occuring estrogen-like hormones produced by the plant.

Vitex grows extremely well in Las Vegas, where summer temperatures often exceed 110F. They like full sun here, and don't require much water.

Vitex, while not native to Texas, thrives here in our hellishly hot summers and mild (with occasional ice storms) winters. In Austin (zo...Read Morene 8b, ~22" precip./year) the Highway Department plants it along IH-35 and no one but God waters it. For some bizarre reason, the landscrapers randomly take a chainsaw to it at ground level -- it promptly returns from dozens of vigorous basal shoots. I have not noticed it spreading noxiously from seed or suckers.

With some difficulty, I have grown it from seed. In a batch of seedlings (~30), several plants produced vaguely pink and white blossoms -- in addition to the usual mauve to deep violet, from the same parent plant. Racemes (floral clusters) on mine usually grow to 8-10". Some cultivars (name unknown) seen in commercial plantings produce intense violet blossoms in racemes about 18" long. The leaves bear a striking resemblance to marijuana and emit an enchanting spicy fragrance when touched.

My experience with this plant has been as an extract in pill form, for menstrual cramps. Suffice to say, this plant is indeed fabulous f...Read Moreor reducing pain from cramping but I do not know what dosage every woman in particular may need. It probably varies and I'm sure harm could come if one takes too much.

I have found this tree to be very beautiful when it blooms, providing a breath-taking sea of bright blue/purple-ish flowers, and in the F...Read Moreall with unusual seed-heads and purple-tinted foliage. It's drought-tolerant and doesn't even flinch in 115*(F) heat spells!

It doesnt like having its roots messed with, so be careful about cultivating around it. I keep a thick layer of wood bark mulch around it to keep the weeds away. All in all this plant is great and it takes very little care to keep it happy.