Q: A friend of mine gave me some seeds of castor bean. I understand the plant is very poisonous but it is beautiful and I would like to grow it. Someone else told me it might be illegal to grow. Your ...

Dear Master Gardener: I was given a small plant as a gift last spring. It grew into a gigantic plant with striking leaves and spiky pink seed pods. I've learned it is a castor bean plant. I'd like to ...

Castor bean plants (Ricinus ommunis) are easy to grow from seed when provided with sun and moist, loamy soil. The seeds produce a vibrant plant with large, star-shaped foliage that can grow up to 10 ...

*Refers to the latest 2 years of stltoday.com stories. Cancel anytime. Castor bean (ricinus communis). Photo from mobot.org. Q • Three years ago, I planted castor beans in my garden, and they thrived.