I first saw one of these planted at the Conroe extension office when I was up there for a tour. I decided I had to have one. I thought it would take a year or more of scouring plant sales but I got lucky and stumbled across one at the Jerry’s Jungle Plant Sale.
Castor is a native of Ethiopia but found in most warm climates now. It loves warm, humid, wet climates. How perfect for Houston! It isn’t quite a bog plant you don’t want it that wet, but don’t let it dry out. Keep it in a moist area of your garden. It does well along rivers so it should work in a swale garden as well.
Castor plants will grow to between six and fifteen feet tall. They can become tree like and leaf size will increase with age and size as well. It is a rapid grower and great for a tropical looking garden. Flowering is through-out the warm weather.
Dried seeds are sticky like thistles, be cautious when removing them or cleaning up.
Victorians loved this plant. As with many of their favorite garden plants it is strange looking and poison. Poison ivy and sumac were also favorites of Victorian gardeners.
Because the plant is poison you will find it hard to locate at most commercial nurseries and you should not grow it if you have children or pets that will eat the plant. 1 milligram is enough to kill an adult. This was the poison used to kill Markov. He had been shot with an umbrella and the pellets contained ricin which is derived from the castor beans.
Mine lost all of its leaves when the weather went below 40′F. I’m hoping it is like a hosta and just laying low for the winter to come back in the spring. Time will tell.
Rumor has it eBay is a good source for this plant if you are still interested.
More information:
Castor Bean Plant ( everything you wanted to know and more )
4 responses so far ↓
1 juliesize // Dec 20, 2007 at 11:03 am
Ohh - you have been a busy girl with all of your new posts since I last visited you. Are you starting to get that anxious new spring planting feeling yet? Right after Christmas I always start to create gardening projects in my mind! It is so hard for me to wait until mid March to plant !
2 admin // Dec 20, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Totally, even though I have tons of orchids wintering indoors and fighting over every bright window I still feel I need more.
I keep checking for cool new houseplants in the stores but of course they have little selection right now.
The garden catalogs should be showing up next month. That might ease the withdrawal a little.
It’s a tough time of year for us gardeners.
3 admin // Jan 7, 2008 at 1:45 pm
I don’t know- this plant lost all its leaves when the temps went into the 40s and has shown no sign of life since. I’m going to leave it be until the hostas appear and see if it comes back to life with the warm weather.
4 ljmacphee // May 18, 2008 at 10:16 am
I had given up hope and cut back the castor bean tree in March. In early May, three small castor plants showed up nearby. So I guess it is going to be ok.
You must log in to post a comment.