Re: flowers in hot season

At 08:43 PM 8/6/2002, rebecca lance wrote:
There are a few plants, however, that save the day for me in the late July and August blues.
Hi Rebecca -

Your inadvertent phrasing put something to mind for me:

We just returned from a vacation in the Cayman Islands (my wife's family is actually from the islands, so it was both a vacation and family visit). This is the hottest time of year there - temps routinely in the mid-high 90oF, with almost equal humidity! While there were lots of exotic and indigenous plants that had little to do with mediterranean climates, one that surprised me was Vitex agnus-castus, the Chaste Tree or Monk's Pepper, a native to the Mediterranean! This shrub/tree was in full flower, with lots of spikes of bright blue, apparently impervious to the tropical conditions.

It performs equally well in mediterranean climates also, putting on a show-stopping display of refreshing blue during the driest time of our summer. Well established plants are very drought tolerant as well! Here is a page on the web site about this handsome plant:
www.MediterraneanGardenSociety.org/plants/Vitex.agnus-castus.html

Certainly a good for late July and August "blues". ;-)
Regards,
Seán O.

h o r t u l u s a p t u s - 'a garden suited to its purpose'
Seán A. O'Hara fax (707) 667-1173 sean@support.net
710 Jean Street, Oakland, CA 94610-1459, U.S.A.

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