WASHINGTON GARDENER
and tough plant. It prefers to be planted in full sun and is not picky about soil type, as long as it is well-draining. It can take a few years for a young plant to fill out on top, while it establishes those roots. But after year three in the garden, it should be about three feet wide and four to five feet high. It dies back to the ground in the winter and reemerges with tall flower spikes in the spring. By summer, the flowers have turned to seed pods, which are quite attractive themselves and make a satisfying rattle-like noise in the breeze. Baptisia is a terrific addition to a pollinator garden. It is the host plant for several caterpillars of moths and butterflies. In 2016, the Mt. Cuba Center published the results of their Baptisia trials and the top-rated plants included ’Screamin’ Yellow’, ‘Lemon Meringue’, ‘Ivo - ry Towers’, ‘Blue Towers’, ‘Purple Smoke’, and ‘Cherries Jubilee’. Vitex Chaste Tree ( Vitex spp. ) is a
time to develop its root system before the winter season. Prune it in early spring to remove any crossing and dead branches. Also remove any upright sprouts. Then train it to be a tree form or shrub shape as you wish. Vitex can also be a good container-grown tree. Snip off the spent flowers right after they start to lose their color to encourage a rebloom about six weeks later. Vitex is deer-resistant due to the fragrance. Wear gloves when han- dling this plant. As with many aromatic plants, skin contact can cause an allergic reaction. Vitex agnus-castus, the straight species, and the cultivar ‘Shoal Creek’ are available in tree form at many area garden centers. Among the newer cultivars are compact shrub forms like ‘Pink Pinnacle’ and ‘Blue Pinnacle.’ Also, look for the dwarf ‘Blue Diddley’. Warning: the round-leaved Vitex ( Vitex rotundifolia ) was brought to the East Coast in the 1980s for use as a coastal soil stabiliz - er. It has now naturalized in some states and is an aggressive spreader. It is not available for purchase commercially. Kathy Jentz is editor/publisher of Washington Gardener magazine. She is also the host of the popular GardenDC Podcast. All photos by Kathy Jentz. Washington Gardener magazine is the gardening publication published specif- ically for the local metro area — zones 6-7 — Washington DC and its suburbs. The magazine is written entirely by local area gardeners. They have real-world knowledge and practical advice. They share their thoughts on what to plant in deep shade, how to cover bare spots, which annuals work best throughout the humid DC summers, and much more. The magazine is published monthly online and includes timely information such as a local garden events calendar and gardening to-do list for that month. A year-long digital subscription is $20.00. To subscribe to the magazine: Send a check/money order for $20.00 payable to “Washington Gardener” magazine to: Washington Gardener, 826 Philadelphia Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20910 OR to pay via Paypal/credit card click on the “subscribe ” link at www.Washington - Gardener.com .
small tree that is native to the Mediterranean and Asia. It has been cultivated for thousands of years both for its ornamental value and herbal uses. The tree blooms profusely in mid-July. The flowers are fragrant and the leaves are also scented. It also produces a fruit, which is tech- nically a drupe, but is commonly
referred to as a berry. The seeds from the dried fruit are ground and used as a pungent peppery spice. The seeds, the roots, and bark are all used in traditional medicine. Vitex is a great addition to the butterfly garden. It is reported that our native pollinators all visit the Chaste Tree. The Vitex flowers also make the most valuable and best varieties of honey. This is a fast-growing tree that grows to a height of about 20 feet within a few years and then expands to about 20 feet in width. Vi - tex is often mistaken for Butterfly Bush ( Buddleia spp. ) as the flower panicles are similar. They are light purple and upward-pointing, but their leaves are very different looking. As a matter of fact, the foliage of the Chaste Tree is often mistaken for Cannabis, because of the fine- toothed leaf pattern! It is also known as the Texas Lilac tree or the Arabian Lilac. Vitex can thrive in heat where real Lilacs would whither, so it is widely avail- able and popular in the Southern US. Chaste Tree prefers well-drained soil and full sun. Once the root system is developed, Vitex is drought-tolerant. It is best to plant it during the spring, after the soil has warmed up, to give it plenty of
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