Vitex
Since my previous photo of Vitex agnus-castus triggered so many comments, I thought I might show it off again. Look carefully at this photo, and you might notice that the purple trim on our house (circular vent, porch-post accent, mailbox) exactly matches the vitex bloom. Yes, I tend to like a green-and-purple color combination.
From the vantage of the driveway, the vitex frames the birdhouse on the other side of the front garden.
Piana Nanna wondered, after my last post, whether it would grow in her Zone 5 garden. As an annual, perhaps. This native of southern Europe is said to be hardy to Zone 7, perhaps Zone 6 with winter protection. When you look it up online, you find pages of information about the herbal remedies it’s thought to effect, most having to do with women’s reproductive systems: relieving painful menstrual cycles, easing the symptoms of menopause, restoring “balance” by either acting as an aphrodisiac or, conversely, suppressing libido. Hence the common name Chaste Lilac.
Another point of interest : Its leaves, fragrant when crushed, look a lot like marijuana leaves. I’ve mentioned before that a friend of mine once mistook my vitex, when it was smaller and not in bloom, for that fragrant herb. The memory still makes me laugh.
Crossing the front garden to the birdhouse, visible in the previous photo, you see the reblooming ‘Belinda’s Dream’ rosebush and a birdhouse currently housing a family of sparrows.
‘Belinda’s’ roses are big and gorgeous and smell lovely. They always stop the neighborhood walkers in their tracks, as they lean over the fence to bury their noses in the petals.
Twining up the post is my new Mexican snapdragon vine, which I bought at Barton Springs Nursery. I’d never seen it before this year and had to give it a try. So far I can report that it’s growing like a weed and blooming beautifully. Its ivy-like leaves are also quite pretty.
A close-up of the buds
And a last look at one of my favorite, easy-to-grow flowers, Echinacea purpurea, widely believed to offer herbal remedies as well, not that I’ve ever tried it. I just love the way it looks, especially when it glows in the evening light near the vitex.
What a fantastic idea (the trim color thing)! I may steal it (once I decide which plant to match).
Your garden is spectacular.
Thanks, Hank. Well, you know me and a can of paint. I just can’t resist slapping color on things, even the house. My painter raised his eyebrows when I handed him that can of purple paint, but he admitted afterward that he liked it too. It is a rather modest amount of purple, after all. Sometimes I think I should have gone really wild. —Pam
Your garden is beautiful from every side, but I really enjoyed seeing the front of it and more angles of the Vitex. What a spectacular tree. I was just looking at the Purple Echinacea online to see if I could order some plants, because I want it every time I see it on your blog, then I came here and there it was again!
I always have a small bottle of echinacea tincture on hand for those times when I feel a bit run down and like I’m coming down with something. It really seems to work as long as I take it at the first sign of a cold or other non specific “virus”.
If you know anyone who’s already growing purple coneflower, just ask them for some ripe seedheads in the fall. Once they turn brown, the seeds are easily flicked out with your thumb. Wherever they fall, they readily grow into more beautiful echinaceas. —Pam
Many years ago I took a native plants class at UT with Marshall Johnston. He took us to all these great places to see plants growing in the “wild” around Central Texas, and the snapdragon vine is one I remember clearly. At that time it was growing in the Barton Creek greenbelt area, and I think it was growing in shady spots. Your photo makes me want to go see if it’s still there!
Thanks for commenting, Mary. I’ll have to look for it the next time I’m at the Greenbelt. —Pam
What a beautiful garden! And I love the green and purple paint job. I would love to do something like that, but it will have to be at my mythical lake cabin, a place that doesn’t exist but allows me to daydream about what I could do if I had a different house. As our house is 1950’s modern with all-natural cyprus wood siding (the original siding, put up before it was not good to harvest it), I don’t think we’ll be painting it anytime soon.
Thanks for visiting, Tracy. If you can’t go crazy with your house colors, there’s always garden benches. 😉 I’m sure your cypress siding is gorgeous just as it is. —Pam
I am sooo impressed with your vitex-now I know what I should have done-mine are unruly sprawling shrubs! I csan certainly see why neighborhood walkers in their tracks, such delicate beauty-and fragrance too.
I saw some vitex shrubs yesterday that made a beautiful screen between two neighbors’ yards. So a tree is not its only use. But if you want to make yours into a tree, I’ll bet it could be done with some judicious pruning. —Pam
your vitex is beautiful…I had chaste trees at both of my previous gardens, but haven’t put one in here…and now I’m doubly sorry 🙂
I’ll have to visit the nursery this weekend because I think the little seedling my MIL gave to me did not survive…
beautiful blog 🙂
Thanks for your comment, Mrs. G. Have fun at the nursery. —Pam
Your vitex tree would stop me in my tracks, Pam and I can only hope mine will be wonderful some day.
I filled my last three gardens with purple plants, too – it probably started when we lived in the land of Lilacs. Vitex sort of fills a similar function as the oldfashioned tall lilacs did in the north. I’ve had door wreaths of Green, White and Purple, too, but will I ever get out that paintbrush?? Maybe!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
I’m sure yours will be as wonderful one day in the not-distant future. They’re so fast-growing!
I’ve been admiring several tree-form, purple-flowering Rose of Sharon bushes in Allandale lately. They’re really making me want one, as did your recent post about them. —Pam
Great pictures, Pam! The purple trim is fabulous, as is the way the vitex frames that view from your driveway. I’ll let you know how well vitex grows in Zone 6 next year–a friend of mine at our garden center just planted one in the hopes that he’ll be able to overwinter it. (By the way, this guy is just 20 years old. Why wasn’t I that cool a decade ago?!)
Do let me know, Kim. I’ll be curious to hear how it does. Did this cool 20-year-old plant it against a south-facing wall or anything like that? —Pam
Even your roof color seems to match the Vitex flowers! Great color coordination. 😉 What a great looking small tree. I can’t believe you’re thinking of replacing it.
Thanks, Ki. As for replacing the vitex, I’m only thinking ahead to when it declines. I don’t know how long vitex lives, but considering its rapid rate of growth, I imagine it’s fairly short-lived. Until that unhappy day comes, I’m just planning for my next small tree. Half the fun, sometimes, is in the dreaming of the garden-to-come. The other half is enjoying the garden-that-is. —Pam
Pam… that tree is beautiful, and something I guess I’ll have to admire from afar since I am zone 5. Do the flowers have a scent?
I also like the green and purple combinations.
Carol
Not a very noticeable scent, Carol. But the leaves are fragrant if crushed. —Pam
Hi Pam,
And a belated congratulations on the Mousies you’ve won. From viewing your blog I can easily see why. I’m the ” new kid ” on the garden blog and have been enjoying visiting the many fabulous blogs out in the blogosphere.
Your garden and photos are just incredible !
Thanks, Carolyn Gail! —Pam
I am sorry to see vitex on the invasive list. I have seen a few in the wild but not very often. Certainly not as much as many of the other invasives. But i can guess any non-native that escapes into the wild is bound to become a problem eventually.
I have grown several. One in Houston and a couple when I lived in Dallas. I didn’t find it hard to grow into a tree if you start out early. But I also think it looks good as a multi-limbed shrub.
purple? looks blue to me.
It’s definitely purple. I haven’t seen vitex in the greenbelts yet, but I see them all around Lake Travis when we go boating. They remain medium-sized shrubs in those rocky, dry conditions. —Pam
beautiful vitex and garden ! i was lookin for how to prune vitex trees came across your site,i have 6 on the side of my house they have been there for 4 years they are about 10 feet high 6 feet wide they dont have the best shape to them and 2 of them smaller ones hardly bloomed last summer any help you can give me would be appreciated, you are blessed I can see
Deborah, my vitex tree is no longer, but I’ll never forget how much pruning it required to keep it in good form. I’d suggest you get a general book on pruning ; Neil Sperry’s Complete Guide to Texas Gardening is a good start. Once you know how to make good cuts, you can work on opening up the vitex’s naturally shrubby habit and selecting 3 to 5 trunks in order to prune it up into a tree form. Whatever you do, don’t “top” the tree, as is done to so many poor crepe myrtles. And if the smaller ones aren’t blooming, I’d look into whether they are too shaded or perhaps diseased. Good luck! —Pam