Annuals - page 2

Perilla 'Fantasy' & Perilla 'Magilla Vanilla' must be cousins of the monster Perilla frutescens. They are beautiful & when I bought them I thought they were coleus and still would if Trudy hadn't told me different. I grew them in pots in partial shade / part sun last summer. They were awesome performers & so vibrantly colored, they just plain glowed in their pots. I took cuttings in the fall. They have been very enjoyable indoors this winter too. They got scraggly after a few months. I took them outdoors cut the pretty tops off, stuck them back in pots, & away, they went; never "missed a lick"! Jan says not to turn them loose in the garden though or you'll be sorry, and she will say, "I told you so".

Perilla Fantasy

www.magnoliagardensnursery.com/productdescrip/Perilla_Magilla.html
davesgarden.com/pf/go/55780/index.html

Castor Bean - 2006
botanical name - Ricinus communis

A solo Castor Bean grew from self-seeding in bed #13 this summer. Actually, it was quite dramatic! towering (12') in the exact center of the sun garden.

Not even the big, voluptuous cannas compared with the Castor Bean's tropical flair. The dramatic, huge, deeply lobed, heavily veined leaves must have been more than 36" wide. Yes, the castor bean got more than its fair share of attention in the garden. It was definitely the star of the show! And so easily grown! The umbrella leaves majestically afforded precious shade for my young hostas also growing in bed #13.

Fall clean-up is not so simple though. An axe or a small chain-saw (maybe even a back-hoe) may be needed to bring down the big boy after frost immediately devastates it. I encouraged Ron to wrap a chain around it & yank it out with his pick-up truck. But the bamboo-like stalk remains out in Bed #13 masquerading as a flag pole stuck deeply in winter snow reminisce of the North Pole.

Castor Beans should be grown with caution. All parts of the plant are poisonous! The beans (seeds) contain the highest concentration of the toxin. Illness & death can be caused due to dehydration from shock following diarrhea & vomiting after ingestion (eating) as few as 4 seeds in small children. Horses are also especially vulnerable to the toxic effects of Castor Bean seeds; colic can result.

However, I have grown these plants many years around children, dogs, cats, chickens, & horses without ever witnessing any problems. I did tell my children not to eat the beans because they are poison!

Notes on poisoning: Castor Bean

Castor Bean
Image from www.gfmer.ch

The seed (beans) of the Castor Bean plant are said to get rid of moles in the yard. I have personally put the seed down the little bugger's holes. We have also bought Castor Oil (expensive) mixed it with water & liquid soap in the big lawn sprayer in attempt to get rid of destructive moles. The moles left but who knows if it was truly the result of our feeble, yet expensive efforts, or they just moved on.

The best methods I ever experienced to get rid of moles is:

#1 - sit quietly & watch active tunnels. When the earth moves, dig like crazy with a extremely sharp long spade & murder the ugly, velvet clad little monsters.

#2 - Our cocker spaniel, Cindy would dig 'em out, kill them, then lay them on the back porch for me to find. That worked the best!

#3 - 'Grub X'- (Scott's Turf Builder) They say if you get rid of grubs you won't have moles. Moles like to eat grubs. I believe they also enjoy night crawlers (worms).

If you find a dead mole or if you murder one, be sure to cut booth front feet off, allow them to dry completely, then string the feet as a necklace to be worn around the neck of the youngest child in your family. Indians & my grand parents believed this custom guaranteed strong teeth to the children in the tribe.

My children had moles feet as gifts from my grandpa but they did not wear them around their necks. The feet were kept safely in a small treasure box. Life is all about family fun!

If you haven't noticed by now I'm an avid fan of 'Garden Gate Magazine'. There is no advertising in the magazine and the pictures are wonderful. The articles are well written in simple basic language. There's nothing less appealing to me than dry, boring statistical data and high-flatulent language in magazine articles. I'm a simple Iowa girl and proud of it! My strength comes from the soil. I just plain love 'digging in the dirt'.

2007 - Top 11 Annuals Picks by Garden Gate Readers (pdf)

Pink Poppy

These poppies freely self-seed all around the gardens. They are so wonderful I do not consider them weeds. I save the seeds to share with friends. I cut the seed pods to use in dried arrangements. They are so cool. - MM