Vitex Species, Beach Vitex, Round-Leaf Chaste Tree

This plant is not invasive in cooler zones. I live in zone 5B but have many zone 6 micro-climates. I have grown Vitex rotundifolia for ...Read More5 years now (even moved it once) and its only drawback is that it is VERY late to leaf out each year. I love its tidy habit and its round leaves. It's charming. I don't remember ever noticing blooms on it this far north.

The Arnold Arboretum (Boston Z6a) planted this, and it did not survive the first winter. Nor did it bloom that first and only summer.
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The Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council has listed this as a Category l invasive species.

I have been working to remove beach vitex from coastal South Carolina since 2006 where it is growing on the beach front and has become a ...Read Morenoxious invasive.It is a prolific seed producer and these seeds are carried to other sites including uninhabited barrier islands and protected natural areas.Along beach front communities it is a maintenance nightmare and will grow over beach walks, guardrails and other established plants. Beach vitex will completley cover a site, and the native beach plants such as sea oats,bitter panicum,silver leaf crotonetc wil be crowded out.The waxy cuticle on the leaf will be aborbed into the soil after the leaves have fallen and makes it extremely difficult to restore native plants after removal.Very strong herbicides are required to effectively treat and kill this plant and it often requires repeated applications.Seeds remain viable for up to 5 years.
Production of 5000 + seeds sq/yd can be expected when the plant is well established.Runners grow rapidly and root at each node.The entire plant has to be treated for effective removal since the many roots will allow runner segments to form separate individual plants.Cuttings will root if disposed of improperly and have plants have turned up on vacant lots and roadside from improper disposal.
If you do decide to plant beach vitex please exersize great care in the maintenace of it. Many communities in North and South Carolina have passed ordinances prohibiting this plant
or at a minimum requiring owners to keep it controlled.
If you live in an inland area and are a skilled and active gardener you MIGHT be able to handle Beach Vitex. If not do yourself and your community and neighbors a favor and pass it bye.Beach vitex is infinately worse to deal with than even kudzu.

Changing my comment from positive to neutral -- I don't think I'd plant it even here in Zone 6 near the beach or sandy wetlands.
<...Read Morebr /> Arnold Arboretum is growing this plant here in Zone 6. I don't know how long they've been growing it, but it looks like it's been there a while, and I'll be interested to confirm if it overwinters. It and Vitex agnus-castus are both invasive species in more southerly climes, but it would seem there's little potential (NOT in coastal areas) for that this far north. The latter is most often treated as a dieback shrub here.