In our country, castor oil is just beginning to gain popularity, but in its homeland this African plant occupies vast areas and grows up to 10 m in height.
The bush got its name because of the special structure of the seeds, which look very similar to a tick.
Perennial castor oil plant is unpretentious, but does not tolerate frost, therefore, in Russia, the plant is used as an annual. Shrub blooms in the summer. Small pale yellow, milky white or cream flowers are combined into long panicles, and on one bush there can be both female and male inflorescences. Very impressive look like fruits that look like prickly round hedgehogs.
Landscape designers often bring diversity to compositions with the help of unusual exotic plants, and the beautiful castor oil plant is just right for innovative ideas.
Castor oil plant is also called Turkish or castor tree. The plant loves open sunny areas where it can show itself in all its glory. Wide large leaves of a beautiful shape in some varieties have a burgundy or purple hue, which makes it very beneficial to use shrubs as a tapeworm or for emphasizing.
In different varieties of castor tree, you can see absolutely incredible shades of foliage. There are turquoise-violet, ocher or rich burgundy leaves with a bright sheen.
Some varieties of shrubs resemble a palm tree, with wide spreading leaves up to 30 cm in diameter and a tall stem-stem. Such plants look good on borders near any fences in the role of tapeworms.
A variety of shades of foliage and many varieties of castor oil plant can be used in group plantings and landscape compositions. The plant goes well with many flowers and other ornamental shrubs.
Castor oil plant grows fantastically fast and reaches impressive size in a fairly short period of time. This feature of the bush can be used to decorate a summer cottage and plant a plant near a house or fence.
A castor bean hedge looks very impressive. Shrubs planted along the paths or fence divide the site into zones, and in addition give a dense shade that brings the long-awaited coolness on a hot summer day. As noted earlier, this wonderful plant does not require special care and grows rapidly, so a wall from a high hedge will appear quite quickly.
Castor oil looks great on flowerbeds and mixborders in the company of dwarf coniferous and flowering low shrubs. It is preferable to use a Turkish tree with low plants, since it can reach impressive sizes, especially if it grows on the unshaded side of the site.
In a mixborder, castor oil plant is better placed in the background, otherwise other plants simply will not be visible due to its large spreading leaves. But next to tall trees casting a thick shadow, this exotic bush is also better not to plant, as it will not have enough sunlight for full development and growth.
In the garden, where there are some flaws, castor oil can mask them, focusing on itself all the attention. In this case, it is important to choose the right variety of ornamental shrubs, which will emphasize the stylistic features of the site.
The Turkish tree is sometimes used in landscaping of Japanese gardens as solitaire compositions. Castor-oil plant favors moistened soil and therefore is well established near water bodies, which is also characteristic of the Japanese style.
It must be remembered that castor seeds, leaves and stems of castor oil contain the poisonous substance ricin. If there are small children in the summer cottage, then it is better to refrain from planting this plant. In park areas, you also need to take into account these properties of the shrub and plant it away from rest areas and playgrounds.
