RE: flowers in hot season

I am in Davis, CA where it has been between 105 and 107 and I noticed the
vitex in my neighborhood look great right now.  For this reason, I will be
planting one as soon as it's safe planting weather again.

Melissa Rose
Center for Children's Environmental Health
tel (530) 754-8157
fax (530) 752-4698
e-mail mbrose@ucdavis.edu
http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/cceh/





-----Original Message-----
From: Sean A. O'Hara [s*@support.net]
Sent: Tuesday, August 13, 2002 2:41 PM
To: rlance@sonnet.com; medit-plants@ucdavis.edu
Subject: 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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