Our secret garden is truly our favorite spot on earth and we thank God that we have been so blessed with the capabilities to care for and treasure it. The foliage of some varieties has colors from green to burgundy and brilliant red. Clusters of bright red, spiny fruit are eye-catching and contain brown seeds for reproduction. The seeds are the source of castor oil. The castor bean is an old-fashioned plant with a distinguished tropical appearance that makes it acceptable as a background for summer annuals and perennials.
Castor bean has one drawback.
The plant is poisonous. It should never be planted around children's play area and wear long-sleeved shirts when working with it. Some say a gardener will never find ground moles in areas near castor bean plants. This stout, robust shrub-like plant with reddish to purple stems may reach 12 feet in height. A perennial in its native tropics, it is grown as a garden annual .