Delta Blues Chaste Tree

Vitex agnus-castus ‘PIIVAC-I’

Plant Details

USDA Plant Hardiness Zones: 6a-9b Find Your Zone

Plant Type: Deciduous Flowering Shrub or Tree

Height at Maturity: 8-10′

Width at Maturity: 8-10′

Spacing: 6′ for solid hedge; 14’+ for space between plants

Growth Habit / Form: Bushy, Broad, Upright

Growth Rate: Very Fast

Flower Color: Rich Purple Blue

Flower Size: Large, 8-10″ long x 1 – 1.5″ wide

Flowering Period: Late Spring, Summer

Flower Type: Single, in long terminal spikes

Fragrant Flowers: Yes

Foliage Color: Gray-Green

Fragrant Foliage: Yes, aromatic

Sun Needs: Full Sun or Mostly Sun, Morning Sun with Dappled or Afternoon Shade, Morning Shade with Evening Sun

Water Needs: Average, very low when established

Soil Type: Clay (Amended), Loam, Sand, Silt

Soil Moisture / Drainage: Moist to somewhat dry, well-drained

Soil pH: 6.0 – 7.5 (Slightly Acidic to Slightly Alkaline)

Maintenance / Care: Very low when left in it’s natural form

Attracts: Butterflies, Hummingbirds, Pollinating Insects, Song Birds, Visual Attention

Resistances: Deer – more info, Disease, Heat, Insect, Wet Soils

Description

The first mid-size Vitex to come on the market, Delta Blues Chaste Tree is a fast growing small tree or large shrub that produces an abundance of fragrant, nectar-rich, dark bluish-purple flower spikes resembling perennial Salvia. The flowers are irresistible to hummingbirds, butterflies and other beneficial pollinating insects. After the flowers, birds will have a fiesta with the shiny red seeds in the fall, especially red cardinals. If you are into birds, this is a must have tree that will provide a free source of food for your feathered friends. The more refined, sage-scented gray-green leaves resemble Japanese maple leaves adding a delicate texture, pleasing color, and sensory appeal in the landscape. Depending on your preference, Delta Blues Chaste Tree quickly grows into a multi or single-trunk shrub or small tree to about 15 feet tall and wide.

Landscape & Garden Uses

Depending on your preference, the Delta Blues Chaste Tree quickly grows into a multi- or single-trunk large shrub or small tree to about 8 to 10 feet tall and 8 to 10 feet wide. In design, we use it as we do upright Japanese maple: as a focal point specimen tree, in groupings of three or more where space allows, or to frame the corners of homes and other structures. Grown as a shrub in straight or staggered rows it makes a colorful hedge and looks especially nice around garden ponds and other bodies of water and in rock gardens. A fine addition to blue theme gardens, bird gardens and butterfly gardens!

Suggested Spacing: 6 feet apart for solid hedge; 14 feet or more apart for space between plants

Note: For our customers who live and garden north of USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 5a, where this Vitex variety is not reliably winter hardy, you’ll be happy to know it can be grown in containers that can be brought indoors during winter and placed back outside when temperatures warm up in spring.

Growing Preferences

Chaste Tree will grow in most any average soil, including clay soils. It prefers a moist but well-drained soil however will tolerate temporary wet conditions. As with so many other ornamental shrubs and trees, constantly wet soil can be problematic. Good drought tolerance when established.

Note: The chaste tree is cold hardy in USDA Zones 5a-9b. In USDA Zones 5 and 6 young plants might die back to the ground during an unusually cold winter. If so, cut the plant back to the ground like you would a butterfly bush and it will quickly regrow to a 4 to 6′ shrub.

Helpful Articles

Click on a link below to find helpful advice from our experts on how to plant and care for Vitex Chaste Trees.

How To Plant A Chaste Tree

How To Fertilize, Prune & Water A Chaste Tree

Plant Long & Prosper!

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Questions? Contact Us!

I love this company! I’ve ordered from bunches of nurseries online and come back to Wilson Bros every time. You may not think they are the lowest priced, but when you compare size and health of the plant, they are the lowest priced. I’ve told my husband I’m not ordering from any other company online except for them. Try them, you will be amazed by your plant/s. They also ship the plants so well packaged and deliver early or right on time, plus have great helpful hints. You truly feel like they care about you and your plants.——————————————We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy your purchase for years to come! Thanks for the kind words and wonderful review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

1st time ordering live plants from this place or anywhere for that matter. I purchased two, they arrived rather quickly, they were in great shape. They weren’t exactly the same, size wise but that rarely happens even at a local nursery. They will be in the ground soon. I love these plant/trees. In the west they thrive. I just hope that they can handle midwest as well.—————————————————-We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy your purchase for years to come! Thanks for the awesome review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG