Beautiful! All of your plantings look stunning!

I like the color combination with the blue trellis.

Yes, lovely - especially if you've been getting the late heat we've been seeing in north Texas. Things had livened up with the cool weather until the record highs in DFW this week seemed to knock most of the fall bloomers off their peak (at least in our neighborhood). At 95° F, it's hard to envision our average first freeze date is something like four weeks out.

Thank you ALL for looking and/or commenting.

I have a question for Brian in Austin when he sees this: How does the New Zealand purple look by this time of year when it's sown in the spring?

Another dark leafed plant that I dearly love is Hopi red amaranth. It volunteers in early spring. By mid summer I pull it out because it starts to droop. Then I let one or two of the new volunteers stay and enjoy it for fall.

I wonder if that might be the case with the castor bean?

Here's a picture of the Hopi red flowers taken on the same day as those above ...

Apologies to those of you already saw this photo on the SAPS thread. Incidentally, I'll bring seeds to the spring swap in case anyone wants them.

Ragna, they can easily get 12 feet and taller, depending on how much moisture they get. They are prolific seed producers and the seeds survive the winter just fine. I always have some that sprout around the mother plant. They are a perennial in their native habitat, but not here. If we have a warmer winter, they might re-sprout from the roots.

If you want to minimize the number of seeds they produce, just cut off the bloom stalks. The seeds remain viable for many years, too.

Just a reminder that the seeds are very poisonous as they contain ricin, so be sure to keep them away from children and animals.

My moringa tree is probably close to 15 feet tall now and loaded with fragrant white blooms. I've seen hummers feeding from them this week. See a few seed pods forming but not certain they'll mature before the first frost. I do have one tree in a large pot, so I'm planning on protecting that one as I'd like to harvest some seeds.

Brian, thanks for your reply. One more question: do the leaves on your New Zealand purple castor bean start to look ragged by mid to late summer like my Hopi red amaranth does?

The leaves generally always look good. The bottom leaves will start to drop off if the plant gets stressed (not enough moisture), but the top of the plant always looks good. I have one planted near the front of the street that only gets watered once a week by the sprinkler system and it has lost some of its bottom leaves but still looks nice.

As a bonus, deer seem to avoid it.

Ragna., i am so sorry... I just now saw this post, of course, seeing photos of your garden is always a joy!