These are so easy to grow in zone 5. But they will not get monster size if you wait until after the last frost. Sooooo start them in the house and grow them under lights. The plain green leaf with boring pods will be the tallest at 9-10 feet. the pink pod with semi red stems and semi dark leaves will be a tad shorter (pictured above) and my favorite 'carmencita' will be the shortest- but still 6 ft! with those dark leaves- very eye catching. We have terrible winds and i lost at least a foot of height due to blow over- so I'm staking the babies at transplant next year. The roots go to China- I pulled up a 4 ft root this spring after it had rotted. The seeds are very toxic. I started them at the same time as my tomatoes- under lights. toodles, Karen

R. brittoniana is a highly variable plant that can get woody/corkey with age (especially in warmer zones where they don't freeze back each Winter). The leave can be narrow or broad, shiny or dull depending on growing conditions. Regards Chris Here is a link that might be useful:

Thank you so much! I am so glad to know what they were! I'll be looking for some bulbs now! They are such an easy plant to grow in the tropics, and they bloom so quickly it's incredible! Thanks again! Todd PS I too live in North Carolina, I'm in the sand-hills, Sanford actually. I love it here, but I do miss the anti-freeze qualities of florida (at least, winters past, and not this one!!!) My poor brother just bought a house last summer in FL and did quite a bit of gardening to see it all be ravaged by the harsh winter. I think florida needed some thinning of the invasive plants though and hopefully the freeze will have helped...

I certainly feel like it's a little world in there! There used to be LOTS more spiders (and zero pupae or monarchs), but taking the caterpillars has dropped the spider population a little. Hopefully they went to other plants with other types of caterpillar!