Vitex agnus-castus "Shoal Creek"

A superior selection of the ancient chaste tree, chosen for the size and color of the bloom. Vitex agnus-castus 'Shoal Creek' is a deciduous large shrub or small tree, native in the species to southern Europe and western Asia and long grown across the South for a long season of summer flower. The palmate, aromatic leaves have now and then been mistaken for those of cannabis, a passing resemblance that gives the plant a certain conversational charm.

The show comes in summer, when full spikes of lilac-purple flowers rise above the gray-green foliage, a display bold enough that the plant has earned the old nickname of summer lilac. Bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds work the spikes for weeks, and cutting the spent flowers spurs a second flush.

'Shoal Creek' stands among the finest of the chaste trees, a Gold Medal Plant Award winner of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, honored for larger flower spikes, richer color, and a clean, vigorous habit. The selection carries the toughness of the species, shrugging off heat, drought, and lean soil once established.

Plant 'Shoal Creek' in an open, sunny site with well-drained soil, as a specimen near a patio or entry, a bold note in a pollinator border, or an informal flowering screen. Train to a single trunk for a small tree or leave multi-stemmed for a fuller shrub, and cut back hard in late winter for the heaviest bloom on new wood. In the colder end of the range the top dies back and returns from the root, while farther south the plant holds as a small deciduous tree.