...has been flowering constantly for almost 60 days. I did not expect this!
It just keeps pushing out blooms!
I don't detect any scent, but I can't get close enough for a good sniff. I don't see any fruit forming, but I've read it is pollinated only by moths, and I suspect they have to be pretty large ones.
Also amazing are the castor beans growing next to the deck:
This seems like the tallest they've ever gotten, almost 24 inches (60cm) above the deck railing with some time still left in the season!
Spectacular!
Also amazing but in a less positive way are the castor beans next to the driveway:
These are usually 8-10' tall at this time, but this year they're less than half of that! Surely they were crowded out by Agastache foeniculum this year -- I really should have thinned those plants!
Back to the deck for a minute:
It amazes me that a vine (Hyacinth bean, Lablab purpurea) can have all of its leaves stripped when young, yet still creep its way upward until it is above deer-chomping height. This one emerged a couple of weeks ago and as you can see is now beautifying the deck. So nice!
And finally, a surprise of my own making. It amazes me how a little bit of colored wood...
...can make a little mess of a spot look almost planned. Love that color!
Anything amazing you about this summer's garden?
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Your ricinus is starting to reach tree like stature, fantastic! And it's an achievement enough to get Pachypodium to flower, let alone blooms continuously for over two months, cool!
ReplyDeleteI cannot begin to fathom Castor Bean trees...seriously fabulous.
ReplyDeleteYay for the castor bean tree! Its beautiful!
ReplyDeleteAmazing indeed! I thought of you when I got a small Pachypodium at a recent odd plant show and sale. Glad yours is still blooming. It's amazing how adding a little structure in front of jungle-like growth makes it seem planned...until the plants start growing over the furniture.
ReplyDeleteSomething I forgot to point out... in the wide shot of the castor beans near the deck, look at the leaves next to the deck post. That's a separate plant that grew in the shade under the deck on the ground (not in the raised bed). It was a late-sprouting volunteer and is almost to the deck even though growing in mostly shade. Amazing!
ReplyDeleteMark/Gaz: this might be my favorite plant this year. I'm a bit worried about it being too tall to bring indoors...
ReplyDeleteLoree: I almost made a comment about the "tiny" front castor beans (4' tall) being very PNW, but thought that might be mean. :)
If you said this was a garden in Hawaii, I'd believe it!
ReplyDeleteLove the Caster and Hyacinth beans, they were always a winner for my garden but now I have 2 small dogs one of which eats anything. The Pachypodium lamerei is new to me ,must look it up. 6 months of blooms woo hoo !
ReplyDeleteI grew caster bean plants on the farm! Love love them. I'm back in The city now and NEXT year I'm having them! 🌴 Thanks! Love the dark ones!
ReplyDeleteGerhard: I'm starting a fund so that I can garden in Hawaii -- care to make the first donation? ;)
ReplyDeletePatsi: it's not 6 months of blooms yet, just 2. Still worth getting excited about!
Karen: The dark ones (sometimes seen as 'New Zealand Purple' I think) are my favorites too. Although there is one cultivar with HUGE leaves that I wouldn't mind growing.