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Q: A co-worker and I were headed Downtown on Sixth Street from Interstate 40, near Aspen Street, and on a southwest corner yard I noticed the most beautiful vibrant purple lilac in bloom now. Isn鈥檛 it a little late for that to be happening, and do you know what variety it might be? 鈥� L.L. sa国际传媒官网网页入口

A: Late for a lilac to be in bloom now? It sure is.

I work in that part of town and I believe I know which shrub you are alluding to. I agree it is beautiful. It鈥檚 at least 6 feet tall and wide and covered with remarkable electric purple blooms.

It鈥檚 just not a lilac ... it鈥檚 a vitex.

Some people know this plant as chaste tree and when it鈥檚 in bloom, no matter the flower color, it鈥檚 a showstopper. If you get a chance, stop and ask to get up close and personal with it because this one does live in a fenced yard.

Anyway, keep your eyes peeled as the bloom time for the vitex is happening now and will continue for several weeks yet to come. The blooms are supported on the stem ends of the shrub and are shaped like an elongated pyramid pointed up. Each bloom cluster is made of zillions of wee flowers that, upon close inspection, usually have a cheery orange center.

One of the best things I can teach about the vitex is that if you keep it really well watered the blooms seem a bit on the pale side. Now that鈥檚 not saying you can plant one and not water it. It鈥檚 just that a well-watered vitex might not be as colorful as one that isn鈥檛 spoiled, so to speak.

There are several different varieties offering varied bloom colors too. There are vitex that have white blooms, the one you鈥檝e noticed with its electric blue blooms, and ones that wear more lavender blooms and a variety that offers pinkish blooms. A most varied family for sure.

The leaf is a "horse of a different color" too. Cool gray on the underside and usually dark green on the top side. With a breeze blowing by, you get a sort of shimmery look to the shrub.

The bloom spikes don鈥檛 (in my opinion) offer much in the way of scent, but butterflies, bumbles and hummingbirds will stop by to keep you entertained for sure.

For me, it鈥檚 the scent of the leaves that can get you.

If you have the chance, pluck a few leaves and rub them between your fingers. The scent offered is a fantastical, astringent scent. I鈥檝e been a vitex leaf scent lover for years. Once you smell it you鈥檒l never forget it and await the ability to smell it annually.

Yes, I really like Vitex. It's easy to grow, not demanding about its care, and they offer so much to the landscape. I hope you find others and you stop and take the time to get up close. They are a nifty shrub!

Q: I just started feeding hummingbirds but am getting fairly discouraged. My feeder has lots of small ants crawling all over it and the birds don鈥檛 seem to like it. How can I get rid of the ants without harming the hummingbirds? 鈥� N.K., sa国际传媒官网网页入口

A. Yuck! I wouldn鈥檛 want to eat at that diner if it were hosting a bunch of ants either. Any retail shop focused on tending birds, also the big box stores in the bird feeding sections, and perhaps even our nurseries, you鈥檒l be looking for a contraption called an ant trap.

It鈥檚 made to hold water so the ants can鈥檛 get to the hook of your feeder and make their way down to the nectar bowl. Mine are made of hard red plastic,with two hooks on them, top and bottom, and a straight-sided bowl. You hang the ant trap so you can fill the bowl part with water and then hang the feeder from the bottom hook.

You鈥檒l want to be religious about keeping the ant trap filled with water or all will be for naught. Once the trap water level evaporates or the local hummingbird comes and drinks the water often enough, the ants will get their freeway back to reinfest the feeder.

So be consistent keeping the ant trap filled with plain water. They work like a dream and I have employed them for years.

Hope this helps and Happy Diggin鈥� In!

Tracey Fitzgibbon is a certified nurseryman. Send garden-related questions to Diggin鈥� In, sa国际传媒官网网页入口, 7777 Jefferson NE, sa国际传媒官网网页入口, N.M. 87109, or to features@abqjournal.com.