
<em>Vitex agnus-castus</em>, chaste tree: to plant, to grow, to prune
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Vitex or chaste tree in a nutshell
- Vitex is a handsome all-round bush that will grow anywhere, in sun even in poor soils
- Its scented blue, mauve or white flowering is very showy in summer and its handsome, deeply divided aromatic foliage gives off a peppery scent
- It is also known for its berries that resemble pepper
- Hardy and tolerant, it tolerates lime, drought and also sea spray, it is easy to grow in drained soil
- Indispensable in country hedgerows, as a specimen and in bush beds, and well suited to all dry and coastal gardens
A word from our expert
Vitex agnus-castus commonly called “Pepper tree”, “Monk’s pepper” or “Chaste tree” is among the flowering bushes easiest to grow. Forgotten in gardens, Vitex agnus-castus, literally “chaste lamb”, has in recent years made a well-deserved return to the ornamental scene as it has more than one asset; long, late, unpretentious flowering from July to October, very aromatic foliage and edible fruits usable as substitute for pepper.
Therapeutic benefits of chaste tree berries have been known since antiquity and are still used today as natural medicine for disorders related to premenstrual syndrome, menopause and amenorrhoea or to promote female fertility and implantation.
From Vitex agnus-castus ‘Albus’ or ‘Alba’ with white flowers, to Vitex agnus-castus ‘Delta Blues’ of vivid violet-blue, via Vitex agnus-castus ‘Blue Puffball’, a new variety of chaste tree with very compact growth, not forgetting Vitex negundo and Vitex agnus-castus ‘Latifolia’ with very incised foliage, all bring a touch of simplicity and freshness to a flowering hedge, as a specimen, in a bed of bushes and even on a terrace.
With good cold resistance (often beyond -15°C), undemanding, easy to grow and very vigorous, Vitex thrives in sun in any well-drained soil. It adapts to all gardens including small spaces.
Planting, maintenance, here are all our tips to successfully grow our Vitex or chaste trees and ensure a lovely summer in flower!
Description and botany
Botanical data
- Latin name Vitex
- Family Verbenaceae
- Common name Chaste tree, monk's pepper, monk pepper, agnus-castus
- Flowering July to October
- Height 1.10 to 5 m
- Sun exposure Sun
- Hardiness -15°C
Le Vitex agnus-castus, literally “Agnus-castus”, also called chaste tree, pepper tree or monk’s pepper, belongs to family Verbenaceae. This aromatic bush or shrub originates from poor, well-drained soils and dunes of the Mediterranean basin, particularly Greece and Italy, and from Asia Minor.
The genus includes more than 200 species including Vitex agnus-castus, the most widespread in our temperate zones.
With fairly rapid growth, Vitex forms a rounded, bushy bush with a lax, spreading habit, sometimes a little untidy. Mature plants will measure, depending on cultivar, about 1.50 to 3 metres, rarely exceeding 4 metres in overall height and are ideal for creating flowering, naturalistic hedges. Vitex agnus-castus develops a very deep root system and can live for a century.
Beige-grey bark flakes with age, forming scaly fissures on the trunk.
The deciduous, highly dissected foliage varies noticeably between cultivars. Quadrangular, cracked and very flexible stems develop opposite, palmate leaves with a long petiole, composed of 5 to 7 lanceolate leaflets with smooth margins, the two basal ones being shorter. The fan-shaped form evokes the cannabis leaf. The Vitex agnus-castus ‘Latifolia’ or large-leaved chaste tree is distinguished from the type by broader, shorter foliage.
Leaves are satiny with a whitish, velvety underside and a prominent chartreuse midrib. They emerge in spring in shades of light green, grey-green to dark green, sometimes attractively purplish, as with cultivar ‘Flip Side’®. Chaste tree leaves are aromatic and give off an intense peppery scent when crushed, as does the whole plant, hence the nickname “pepper tree”.

Vitex agnus-castus – botanical illustration by PJ Redouté
In summer, dense spikes of scented flowers cover this elegant foliage. From July to October, when garden flowering is scarcer, branches of chaste tree are clothed in beautiful axillary panicles in variable colours reaching 10 to 20 cm long. This flowering, reminiscent of buddleias, occurs on current-season shoots. Tight floral buds open progressively into small flowers of 7 to 8 mm, tubular and almost two-lipped with five unequal lobes and prominent stamens. They are pubescent on the underside. These whorls range in tones from blue ( ‘Blue Puffball’) to violet, pink and pure white (Vitex agnus-castus ‘Albus’).
Very melliferous, these peppery, balsamic-scented flowers are much visited by pollinating insects and irresistibly attract butterflies and bees.
In autumn, clusters of round, edible and fragrant berries 4 to 5 mm in diameter, like shiny red peppercorns, follow the flowers and persist into winter. They have a spicy flavour and can be used as a substitute for pepper.
Perfectly hardy down to -15°C, Vitex agnus-castus or chaste tree adapts to all our climates and is very easy to grow in very sunny positions in ordinary, well-drained soil, even poor, stony and calcareous. Undemanding about soil type, it is an all-terrain bush that also tolerates sea spray and adapts to salty, sandy soils.
It finds a place in all natural-style gardens, dry gardens, seaside or urban gardens. It performs wonderfully as a solitary specimen, in a mass of bushes or a small grove, in flowering hedges or even on a terrace or balcony, planted in a large container for more compact varieties.
Vitex has long been associated with chastity. In the Middle Ages, some monks consumed its berries for their anaphrodisiac properties to resist temptations of the flesh.

Several colours of Vitex: ‘Delta Blues’, ‘Latifolia’ and ‘Alba’
In herbal medicine, chaste tree berries and leaves are used to relieve hormonal pains in women and to regulate the female cycle. Its peppery seeds can be used as a condiment. In the past, Vitex stems were used, like willow, to make strong ties and trellises.
Read also
10 perfect bushes for a seaside gardenMain species and varieties
Alongside the classic blue-violet flowering of the type species of the type species, cultivars derived from it offer a more diverse palette, ranging from white to pink and lilac. Some Vitex also stand out for the striking colouring of their foliage, others by a more modest pruning which allows use in small spaces or in pots on a terrace.

Vitex agnus-castus Delta Blues - Chaste Tree
- Flowering time August to October
- Height at maturity 2,75 m

Vitex agnus-castus Albus - Chaste Tree
- Flowering time August to November
- Height at maturity 4 m

Vitex agnus-castus Blue Puffball - Chaste Tree
- Flowering time August to October
- Height at maturity 1,10 m

Vitex agnus-castus Flip Side - Chaste Tree
- Flowering time August to October
- Height at maturity 2,50 m

Vitex agnus-castus f. latifolia - Chaste Tree
- Flowering time August to October
- Height at maturity 2,75 m
Discover other Vitex - Chaste tree
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Planting Vitex
Where to plant?
Vitex or chaste tree agnus-castus is one of easiest flowering bushes to grow. To flower well, it must be planted in full sun, in a warm position sheltered from cold, drying winds that could damage its foliage. If it shows good cold hardiness to at least −15°C in well-drained soil, it still fears very severe frosts, but will reshoot from the stump in spring. In cold areas, plant it against a sunny wall.
It tolerates sea spray and will cope well with summer drought once established. With an exemplary undemanding nature, it thrives in any soil not too wet, salty, sandy, poor or even calcareous, provided it is well drained, because this bush of arid lands dislikes excess moisture.
With its versatile nature, Vitex finds a place in all natural gardens, dry gardens, coastal or urban settings, creating attractive focal points. It can be used widely in garden, as a specimen, in shrub borders or grouped in informal hedges. Some compact varieties such as Vitex agnus-castus ‘Blue Puffball’ are particularly suited to small spaces and container culture and can be included in small perennial beds or at front of a shrub border.
When to plant?
Plant Vitex preferably in spring, from March to May, in cold regions once risk of frost is past to encourage a good restart. Elsewhere, planting in autumn, from September to October to encourage rooting before winter, is also possible.
How to plant?
In open ground
Depending on variety, allow a density of 1 bush per m². For hedge planting, space 1 to 3 m between each Vitex or other bush. When planting in open ground, improve drainage if necessary using coarse gravel mixed half-and-half with garden soil. Water regularly during first summer.
- Dig a hole twice as wide as rootball and loosen soil well
- Place thick bed of gravel or clay pebbles at bottom of hole if needed to ensure drainage
- Position bush centrally in planting hole so rootball is level with soil surface
- Backfill with garden soil
- Tamp soil around base of bush and water
In containers
Compact Vitex (such as variety Blue Puffball) are perfectly suited to container culture and make a striking feature on patio where they will release their peppery fragrance in summer.
- Choose a container large enough, at least 60 cm deep so bush can develop well
- Spread a draining layer of clay pebbles or pumice
- Plant Vitex in a mix of leaf mould and garden soil
- Place pot in sun
- Water fairly regularly during first summer, allowing surface to dry between waterings
- Re-pot every two years into a larger container
Maintenance, pruning and care of Vitex
Hardy, drought-resistant, the Vitex is a robust bush requiring little maintenance: no fertiliser, few waterings. It is the ideal companion for low-maintenance dry gardens!
Water young bushes during first summer to aid rooting and during first two or three years in case of prolonged high heat. Afterwards, leave nature to take its course, and only water during extended drought periods, it will be content with rainwater.
In a pot, let soil dry between waterings and in regions with rainy winters, bring pots under cover.
In coldest regions, mulch root area from autumn to protect from severe frosts.
Properly established chaste tree has no significant pests; its peppery scent also repels pests!
When and how to prune?
Pruning Vitex is not obligatory, but it helps maintain a compact, bushy habit: carry out this operation in late winter or early spring. Like all summer-flowering bushes, vitex flowers on current year’s wood; a very short pruning will encourage the growth of new branches and the next flowering will not be threatened but rather stimulated! No stress, it tolerates this type of pruning well!
- In March, before budburst, cut back with pruning shear by three quarters those shoots that have flowered, leaving only 2 or 3 eyes or buds
- Remove dead wood and any rogue or crossing branches
- Open out centre of the branches well
And follow our tips to prune summer-flowering bushes correctly
Propagation
Taking cuttings of Vitex
Multiplication of Vitex can be in August on semi-ripe or semi-woody shoots (i.e. those that transform from soft wood into hard wood). Allow 2 to 3 years to obtain first flowering. Sowing is possible with fresh seeds in autumn but more erratic and slow.
- Take current-year shoots without flowers, 15 to 20 cm long
- Remove lower leaves and keep only two pairs of terminal leaves
- Cut them in half
- Plant the cuttings in buckets filled with potting compost and sand
- Overwinter them frost-free under a cold frame
- Keep substrate moist
- Plant out the cuttings in open ground the following spring
Companion plants for chaste tree
With its fragrant flowering combining freshness and simplicity and with its modest dimensions, Vitex agnus-castus is suitable for both large and small gardens, as a specimen, at the back of a perennial bed or grouped in country hedges, or even in a container. It pairs easily with all kinds of plants in a natural garden or a coastal garden because it tolerates sea spray.
It excels in a flowering hedge mixed with all types of flowering bushes such as Ceanothus (California lilac), weigelias, a smoke tree, altheas, lavateras and other shrubs such as Buddleias.

A lovely planting idea: Vitex agnus-castus ‘Flip Side’ as centrepiece, accompanied by Cistus ‘Alan Fradd’, Salvia officinalis ‘Purpurascens’, Santolina chamaecyparissus, Foeniculum ‘Bronze’, Verbascum thapsus and Calamintha nepeta. Add a few clumps of Stipa gigantea and it will be perfect!
Its bushy silhouette helps to bulk up a natural shrubby or perennial bed, adding plenty of charm. Position it in the background, for example alongside a Lagerstroemia.
In the foreground of a shrubby bed, modest-sized chaste trees pair well with oleanders, dwarf buddleias, or with tamarisks.
In the midground of a mixed border of sun-loving perennials, it lightens the whole and blends easily with salvias, Alcea rosea (hollyhocks), Achillea millefolium (yarrow), summer asters, Nepetas, lupins, Oriental poppies, echinaceas, creating lush, generous displays.
Larger specimens make magnificent backdrops for old-fashioned or English roses.
It is among the most beautiful blues in the garden; create an azure-themed bed by pairing it with butterfly bushes like ‘Adonis Blue’ or ‘Blue Chip’, and with blue-flowering perennials such as delphiniums, Knautia arvensis, Echinops, Perovskia, a Salvia nemorosa or Buenos-Aires verbenas, or a Lupinus ‘The Governor’.
With its blue, pink or white flowering it features in romantic scenes punctuated by clumps of lavenders and grasses such as Miscanthus, with clematis, campanulas, Thalictrum. In blue/yellow combinations, set it against snowberries, yellow daylilies, drought-tolerant euphorbias, St John’s worts and shrubby potentillas.
Smaller-growing varieties are well suited to container culture mixed with hardy geraniums, phlox or dianthus or lavenders.
Useful resources
- Discover our different Vitex varieties in our online nursery
- Do you like blue-flowering bushes? Discover our article:Â 8 blue-flowering bushes you should have in your garden
- Discover our selection of 10 bushes that thrive in seaside gardens!
- Also discover our selection of 10 summer-flowering bushes you should have in your garden!
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