Vitex

Typically Vitex are tropical or sub-tropical, with only a few species reliably hardy outside in the UK. Normally trees and shrubs, needing a good summer to fully ripen and flower. Spikes of flowers similar looking to some Nepeta. These can be pruned to a framework in March, to encourage vigorous flowering shoots, (as with Caryopteris, Lavatera and Buddleja).

The Vitex species that are hardy in Britain and Ireland form usually small shrubs, with abundant flowers in the late summer period that attract bees, hoverflies and butterflies. The fact that they are drought-tolerant simply adds to their desirability.