I am fortunate to have a son to supply me with a Castor bean (Ricinus communis) seedling or two every spring. I’ve tried. The seeds are easily harvested from the prickly, highly ornamental pods (below). They readily germinate the time or two I’ve tried, but then I fail to keep up with watering. So, when it’s warm enough to plant outdoors, my son has one for me.

Similar to other tropicals, the castor bean grows slowly through the spring with the pace quickening in the summer heat. By late summer, it makes quite a show, so I will not be without one as long as my supplier continues his good work.

Sadly, the cold hardy banana (Musa basjoo, below) has failed a few times in the lower rear garden. I suspect the soil is too damp through the winter, so I have conceded that they are no longer practical except in containers.

Instead, I’ve divided parts of the regularly spreading Rice Paper plant (Tetrapanax papyifera, below) to plant where the huge leaves will tower over its neighbors. It is slow to start in spring, barely rising to waist height by midsummer, but then it takes off. I’ve transplanted a few into sunnier spots where I expect more rapid growth, and perhaps more rapid spread that will require a bit of maintenance.

Two cold hardy tapiocas (Manihot grahamii) planted in spring are nearing six feet. I expect that I’ll cover both with a frost blanket when winter temperatures fall below ten degrees (Fahrenheit). The leaves of the tapioca are small compared to the Rice Paper plant, but they fit the confused vision I have for a mix of tropicals and Japanese maples in the rear garden.