Cherished in English gardens for over 400 years, Vitex agnus-castus, chaste-tree or hemp-tree, has been grown with enthusiasm on the Pacific Coast. It is a large deciduous bush, somewhat resembling the tall buddleias, and needing much the same care. It is a native of eastern Mediterranean countries where it is found on the hot banks of rivers.
It should be given plenty of room, for it may reach 12 feet and needs space in which to lean its outer branches displaying flowers at their tips. The branches are well foliaged with dark gray-green leaves, resembling a small-palmed hand with outspread pointed fingers. The flower spikes, which may be a foot long, are densely clustered with circles of short fragrant tubes. The color of the chaste-trees carried by West Coast nurseries is a uniform shade of light violet blue, hut the wild bushes vary in tones of blue, violet and lavender.
The chaste-tree is hardy along the entire Pacific Coast, but in the coldest regions must be given a protected location. When killed back by cold, new shoots reappear and flower the same season. A sunny location is essential for its well being and while it is not particular about soil, it needs water during the long California summer drought.
Winter pruning induces more and larger flower spikes, and if the first are removed after flowering, a second crop of bloom may he expected in fall.
The chief value of this Mediterranean shrub is in helping to create summer pictures in hot gardens. It can be used in combination with Caryoptenis incana, a favorite which also enjoys sun and warmth. It is attractive with day-lilies and agapanthus in white or blue, with pale pink cannas and with the tall yellow fernleaf yarrow, Achillea filipendulina. It thrives in sections that are far enough back from the ocean to receive plenty of summer sun and yet have just enough summer fog to temper the noonday heat. But it is a decided boon to gardeners in the summer-hot Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys where it grows with the greatest ease in any of the different soils found there, reveling in the heat.
Propagating is done by spring-sown seed, but more usually by greenwood cuttings. If bent down and layered, the outer branches quickly take root.
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