(Castorbean)

So why would gardeners grow such a deadly poisonous plant as a garden ornamental? Showy forms of castor bean are bold, brightly colored and thrive in high heat and drought. In tropical regions castor bean grows as a tall evergreen subshrub, but in temperate zones it is commonly grown as an annual/tender perennial. This native of northern Africa and western Asia has become naturalized in many tropical to subtropical regions across the globe where it is considered invasive. Some Third World countries...

(Castorbean, Pink Castorbean)

So why would gardeners grow such a deadly poisonous plant as a garden ornamental? Showy forms of castor bean are bold, brightly colored and thrive in high heat and drought. In tropical regions castor bean grows as a tall evergreen subshrub, but in temperate zones it is commonly grown as an annual/tender perennial. This native of northern Africa and western Asia has become naturalized in many tropical to subtropical regions across the globe where it is considered invasive. Some Third World countries...

So why would gardeners grow such a deadly poisonous plant as a garden ornamental? Showy forms of castor bean are bold, brightly colored and thrive in high heat and drought. In tropical regions castor bean grows as a tall evergreen subshrub, but in temperate zones it is commonly grown as an annual/tender perennial. This native of northern Africa and western Asia has become naturalized in many tropical to subtropical regions across the globe where it is considered invasive. Some Third World countries...

This ornamental castor bean has purple-red flower stalks, burgundy-tinted leaves, and rose-red seed capsules. It is propagated from seed.

Naturalized throughout the tropics, castor bean (Ricinus communis) is a large shrubby perennial that likely originated in northern Africa. In extra-tropical regions it is often grown as an annual for its bold, deeply lobed foliage and colorful, spiny seed capsules. It is also cultivated as a crop plant for its economically important oil, which is extracted...

(Hybrid Black Locust, Purple Robe Locust)

A tough tree with billowy foliage and pretty violet-pink late spring flowers, 'Purple Robe' is no less than easy-to-grow. A small to medium-sized deciduous tree, it is a hybrid. Some consider it a cross between cultivars of Robinia ambigua and Robinia hispida while others believe it a cross between Robinia pseudoacacia and Robinia hispida.

It has compound leaves (made up of many smaller oval leaflets) that emerge bronze-red in spring, maturing to blue-green....

(Black Locust)

Though pretty and fast-growing, black locust is weak-wooded, short-lived and generally weedy. It is hardy, deciduous and forms a broad, upright canopy when mature. Some are more shrub-like. Natural populations are believed to have originated from the eastern United States, particularly along the Appalachians and Ozark Mountains, but have spread across much of the United States and up into Canada.

Green to blue-green compound leaves (leaves comprised of many small leaflets) cover its coarse,...

(Doubtful Locust)

This is a graceful deciduous tree prized its gorgeous, pendulous, clusters of pink flowers and rugged constitution. Its parent is Robinia ambigua, a species designated for new plants resulting from the cross of Robinia pseudoacacia and Robinia viscosa, both native to North America and Mexico. The leaves of ‘Idahoensis’ are arranged alternately on the branches and divided into rounded leaflets that give them a feathery look. With its single, upright trunk and spreading branches,...

(Matilija Poppy)

The huge snowy poppy-flowers of this tall shrubby perennial put on a show for many weeks beginning in spring. It is native to dry arroyos and canyons in southern California.

Erect, fleshy, woody-based stems clothed in leathery, gray-green, deeply lobed leaves arise from thick, wandering rhizomes in early spring. The solitary, dinner-plate-size flowers open from smooth, beaked buds from spring until early- or midsummer. The crinkly blooms have five or six petals and a large central puff of numerous...

(Prickly Rose, Prickly Wild Rose)

Don't confuse the much more abundant prickly wild rose with the common wild rose when you take hikes in forests and meadows. The prickly wild rose has numerous spines and bristles on its sienna-brown twigs. This rose species is nearly circumboreal in its natural distribution. It's found across the northern half of North America, northern Europe, Siberian Russia and across Kazakhstan, Korea, Japan, China and Mongolia in Asia. Although a deciduous shrub, the mature size and habit of the prickly wild...

(Rugosa Rose)

Cold hardy, beautiful and tough, rugosa rose is a dense, thorny shrub rose native to eastern Asia. It is admired for its beautiful flowers and fruits as well as its resiliency to cold, high winds, ocean salt and drought. It has been introduced to North America and has naturalized across a large area of the northeast and Alaska.

The canes of rugosa rose are thickly covered with small, sharp thorns and compound rosaceous leaves with coarse, green leaflets that turn yellowish gold or bronzy shades...