Chaste Trees are magnificent, long-blooming and incredibly elegant ornamentals! You won’t go wrong with the outstanding selection of Chaste Trees available from Nature Hills Nursery!
These powerhouse plants deliver bountiful, fragrant blooms all summer long in a striking range of blue-violet colors.
Adaptable, drought-tolerant, deer-resistant and beneficial to pollinators and hummingbirds - it’s easy to see why these are highly sought-after plants! They are also salt and pest resistant and perfect urban environment plants.
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Rich History of the Chaste Tree
Native to western Asia and southwestern Europe, the Chaste Tree traces its history back more than 2500 years!
Named ‘chaste’ by monks who believed the berries helped them keep their vows of chastity, they are actually a member of the large and illustrious Lamiaceae Mint family!
Vitex Chaste Trees, or Chastetrees, have also been referred to colloquially as Lilac Chaste and Chaste Berry Tree. Also called the Monk's Pepper tree because of the dried berries used as a mild pepper substitute by those same monks. Also known in some regions as the Wild Lavender because, top to bottom, they are incredibly aromatic plants!
Different medicinal attributes associated with Chaste Vitex and the compounds it produces are continuing to be studied and utilized in holistic science today. Yes, compounds from this beautiful plant are found in Vitex supplements in every health store across the country!
Especially celebrated for helping with women's issues, this giving tree may be one of the most perfect trees to celebrate children and loved ones. Many women will know just how meaningful Vitex was to support them on their fertility journey.
What are Chaste Trees Good For?
Attracting pollinators from far and wide, you’ll even enjoy swarms of hummingbirds stopping by to sip the ample nectar these flowers provide! Plus they are a vital nectar resource for bees and butterflies! Let one of these fine-textured trees anchor a garden bed or soften the corner of your home's foundation plantings.
These are fantastic specimens and ornamental gems that won’t overwhelm your front yard or kill lawn grass with heavy shade. Their broad and spreading canopies look incredible, especially when festooned in the tall-reaching spires of dark blue to lavender blooms!
The long-lasting blooms and interesting Mediterranean foliage are perfect additions to your butterfly and pollinator gardens, xeriscaping landscapes,
Difference Between Tree Form and Shrub Form
The Chaste Trees in our inventory are available as single-stem trees, multi-stem trees and shrub forms. The difference between them is purely aesthetic:
- Single-Stem: One stem emerges from the ground, then branches near the top. This is the traditional ‘tree’ look.
- Multi-Stem: Three or more stems are either planted in close proximity or emerge from the soil line. Upper branches may weave together in a clump form.
- Multi-Trunk: Several trunks with many stems branching off, forming from a single root system.
- Shrub: Many stems emerge with branches close to the ground to form a bushy profile, often remaining shorter than tree forms.
You can often achieve a tree- or shrub-like appearance of your Chaste Tree with some easy pruning.
Best Chaste Tree and Shrub Varieties:
- Chaste and the Blue-Diddley are the most cold-hardy. Both are adapted to the chilly winters of USDA Zones 5 through 9. Blue-Diddley has the bluest of all the Chaste!
- Choose Blue Puffball™ for a compact ball shape (in both bloom and growth) that’s covered in deep sky-blue spires. Use it as a garden border or in pots to flank your front door.
- The Shoal Creek Chaste Tree offers dappled shade to a pollinator garden with multiple stems that lend an airy, graceful look.
- Pair the tall and wide canopy of Crème de la Crème™ White Chaste Tree with a ring of low Blue Didley™ for a sophisticated layered look that elevates a manicured yard or a wildly informal landscape!
- Or think pink with the Pink Pinnacle! This smaller shrub reblooms all summer with a bit of deadheading.
How to Take Care of Chaste Trees
Chaste trees have pretty basic care requirements. Adaptable and easy-going, it’ll be easy to include one of these remarkable plants in your landscape design.
Sunlight
They absolutely thrive in full sun, but can handle a bit of partial shade. The hottest growing zones will find their tree does a bit better when provided with afternoon shade relief from the worst of the summer sun's intensity.
Water Requirements
Preferring moderate, yet consistent moisture, Vitex are low-water usage plants once they become established. New plants need consistent moisture and cannot dry out until those roots have fully expanded into the new soil beyond their initial potted clump. Use the ‘finger-test’ by actually checking if the soil feels dry a few inches below the surface of the soil.
Mulch Properly
Arborists' wood chips are incredibly important for almost all plants. Applying a 3-4 inch layer over the root system of your plant, expanding out to the drip-line, helps reduce evaporation, and keeps moisture levels more consistent in the soil. Mulch also adds to the microbial soil diversity, adds nutrients as they break down and insulates the roots from heat and cold. Just be sure not to pile any mulch against the physical trunk of the tree or shrub.
Soil and Fertility
Chaste are easygoing and can handle any kind of well-drained soil. Soggy conditions will not do. Enrich the site of your new tree with plenty of organic matter. They only need moderate fertility in the form of a slow-release, organic blooming tree and shrub fertilizer.
Pruning and Maintenance
Chaste only requires upkeep twice a year. In the very early spring, nip off any branches that have died back over the winter, anything that is crossing or rubbing and growing inward. Prune out branches inside shrubs to open the canopy for air and light to reach the interior. Cut out any excess trunks in young trees to encourage the shape/form you desire.
Maybe your plant got a bit overgrown, then you can simply cut the largest stems down to the ground and all of the new growth that develops will still flower as the flowers are born on new growth.
Deadhead the spent blooms after they fade unless you want to keep the seed pods for fall and winter interest they provide once the leaves drop in the autumn. However, deadheading may encourage a second flush of blooms later that fall for your enjoyment as well!
Sit Back and Enjoy!
Relax under the large limbs of your Chaste Tree, or sit beside Shoal Creek privacy shrubs and enjoy their scent. Steal a few blooms for indoor floral arrangements, and hang a few to dry for botanical dried arrangements. Or just kick back and watch the butterflies and hummingbirds have all the fun.
Let NatureHills.com help you find the perfect Chaste Tree for your landscape today! Happy planting!
