Summertime Blues Chaste Tree(Vitex) – 7 Gallon Pot

A perfect fit for smaller garden spaces, this new hybrid Vitex bred at the Chicago Botanic Gardens breaks all of the rules! Meet ‘Summertime Blues’, an improved selection sporting abundant, exceptionally large lavender-blue flowers that bloom from late spring through most of the summer in our gardens, hence the name. Improved cold hardiness on a shrub with a rounded habit to 4′ high and wide in the North (Zones 5-6), where it can be grown as a mid-size shrub, and 8 to 10 feet high in the South (Zones 7-9), where it can be grown as a large shrub or lower branches can be removed to form a highly attractive small tree for landscape borders, home foundation plantings, or containers.

The flowers of Vitex Summertime Blues are irresistible to hummingbirds, butterflies and other beneficial pollinating insects. After the flowers, birds will have a fiesta with the seeds in the fall, especially red cardinals. The refined, sage-scented leaves resemble those of Japanese maples, adding a delicate texture, pleasing color, and sensory appeal in the landscape. Extreme drought tolerance when established, a more manageable size, and sterile flowers make this colorful and easy-to-grow flowering shrub a great fit for smaller garden spaces almost anywhere in the country (Zones 5a to 9b).