Q: For several years I’ve been mowing over what I thought were weeds. This spring I finally realized they are volunteers from my chaste tree. Will these babies bloom?

A: The seedlings will certainly bloom when they mature. This usually happens after a couple of years if they are in sunshine and get watered and fertilized occasionally in summer. If you have room, transplant a few to sunshine and observe how they bloom, choosing the best.

You can get spectacular blooms on a chaste tree, Vitex agnus-castus, if you maintain it as a large bush, not a small tree and give it a severe pruning in winter. The springtime new growth produces a profusion of bloom spikes in summer.

Vitex

vitex flower

vitex leaf