I moved one Vitex to anchor a bed, near a Carefree Delight rose. Carefree Delight has eaten their other companions.

The other 3 are spaced along a long narrow bed with a path on each side and limbed up for high trees, 7 feet tall.
This area gets regular water, so there are a dozen different water hogs -- not all blooming simultaneously.

You would be more interested in the nearby butterfly beds, which would be good companions, they just happen to be a little apart from the Vitex:
Pentas, Porterweed, Brazilian ruellia (red wild petunia), Alternanthera, Salvia coccinea, Trailing lantana.

Nell

I have one in the butterfly garden. I have coneflowers, asclepias, achillea, rudbeckia, bronze fennel, ornamental grasses, verbena (tall and Homestead), salvia, agastache, tithonia, hypericum, crocosmia, snapdragons, nepeta, nierembergia (low), ajuga (low), Spanish bluebells, daffodils.

The low growers were just planted a few weeks ago, so need to fill in. The area around my vitex at the bottom of the slope gets very moist. There are some blank spots where the Spanish bluebells have disappeared for the summer. The slope behind it is very dry.

My butterfly garden is just starting to bloom. The verbenas, nierembergia and salvia have been blooming. I just decided to trim off the bottom branches so that I could grow more underneath the vitex. The vitex was planted in fall 2005, but I moved it here when I started the butterfly garden in 2007.

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Right side from vitex:

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Looking from the left (rear) side of the vitex down to the right.

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Up the slope behind the vitex:

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Agastache and bronze fennel. I also have a lot of agastache 'Blue Fortune' not yet blooming. My garden peaks in late June through August. I have buddleia in a lot of other places outside the butterfly garden.

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My vitex has daylilies, rosemary and rockrose below it, a Nearly Wild rose on one side, some tall red cannas on the other, and a pink oleander right next to it.

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Carol

I have 2. One I keep pruned as a bush, the other is now about 9 or 10 feet tall. Under the bush is New Gold lantana. Under the "tree" which I've yet to limb up, I had purple coneflowers and black-eyed Susans. Neither blooms at the same time as the Chaste tree and now there's too much shade for them to bloom later ... which would be right now. I have an Abutilon pictum growing next to the Vitex. It's the same height.

From earlier this year ...

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From last year ...

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I keep mine trimmed up, but Natal's is beautiful!!!

I grow mostly roses under mine, but I also have Black and Blue Salvia, May Night salvia, rudbeckia and daylilies. The end of the bed has perennial hibiscus. Mine gets pretty regular water, which is probably why I have to trim on it so much :)

May 2007

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June 2008

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Lisa

I have to say I love everyone's Vitex and companions. If I didn't have one already, this thread sure would make me go out and buy one.

Mary

I have three - two of which were passalongs and bloomed pinkish last summer. All are still quite small. Seeing these beautiful photos makes me really anxious for mine to grow up!

I planted daylilies around my Vitex. This picture was taken on July 18th, in my zone 6. I decided not to cut back the Vitex. This is why it grew the size of a small tree. To keep it 5-7 ft, you'll need to cut back 1 ft from the ground in the spring.

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Thank you ALL for the suggestions and the beautiful pics! I planted my vitex yesterday morning before going to take care of my dad and before we got too hot. It is doing well, so far. I hope it grows up to be as pretty as all of yours.

Carol, love the oleander behind yours. I don't think I would have ever thought of that! My bed is about the same size as yours only I made it into the shape of a butterfly. I'm thinking some white agapanthus for the antennae might be in order. ; )

Diana

Oh Diana, I'd love to see pictures of your butterfly-shaped bed!

In the shape of a butterfly ! Cool ! We need to see that !

Carol

I really enjoyed seeing everyone's pics and reading about the different companion plants! I planted a Vitex four years ago; each year when it leafs out I wonder why I don't see more of them around. The companion plants are Tulbaghia violacea, penstemon, "Goldmound" spirea, scabiosa atropupurea, bearded iris "Immortality", lambs ears, and sedum ( I can't recall the name right now). My Vitex is limbed up like a tree.

Melle, nice to see you posting. : ) I think I will keep mine limbed up like a tree, too, although I do like it multi-limbed.

I will post a pic - eventually. lol! I am still tweaking the plantings and they are small so not so great looking, imo.

Thanks again for all the companion suggestions. I do have lambs ear and caryopteris, which is now in bloom so it's not looking so blah. I have a huge BES and shasta in the front garden that will probably end up in this bed, too.

Diana