Plant in full sun and irrigate only occasionally to infrequently. Tolerant of most any soil and drought and likes a warm location. Cold hardy to below 0° F but can be used as an herbaceous perennial in areas where it will freeze annually to the ground and in this situation will grow back to about 2 feet tall. It is resistant to Oak Root Fungus (Armillaria melle). Pruning can be done in fall or early spring as flowering occurs on new wood and prune old flowers to encourage rebloom. Bees and other pollinators are attracted to its flowers and foliage but is resistant to predation by deer.

Vitex agnus-castus is native to the Mediterranean region of Europe and Northern Africa and western Asia. The name for the genus was authored by Linnaeus in his Species Plantarum in 1753 and comes from the name used by Roman philosopher naturalist Pliny the Elder for the Chaste Tree, Vitex agnus-castus from the Latin word 'vieo' which means "to weave" or "to tie" in reference to the use of the use of fresh shoots of this species for basket weaving. Its specific epithet means 'chaste' in both Greek and Latin as is was believed to be sacred to the Greek goddess Hestia and the Latin goddess Vesta, who were both goddesses of the household. It is also known as by the common names Chasteberry, Chastetree, Lilac Chastetree, Monk's Pepper and Texas Lilac.

Busy Bee is a selection made in 2018 by Dr. Cecil T. Pounders of Innovative Plants (previously with USDA and Mississippi State University) in a breeding program that had the goal of developing dwarf plant forms with an extended period of flowering, in a variety of flower colors. It resulted from careful selection from over 500 seedlings that resulted from seed collected from open pollinated Blue Puffball Chaste Tree, Vitex angus-castus 'PIIVAC-II' in 2015. It received US Plant Patent PP34,214 that was filed in October 2021 and is marketed as Vitex agnus-castus Busy Bee. This cultivar is great for use in the border, in pollinator gardens, in mass plantings or as a container specimen. We began trialing this plant for Plant Haven International in 2021. We also have grown the full size Chaste Tree, Vitex angus-castus. 

This information about Vitex agnus-castus Busy Bee ['JBG 19002'] PP 34,214 displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.