Castor beans

Which castor beans do you grow and when do you start them?

I have started two different types of castor bean already. One is called"Zanzibar" and is a very large one and "Carmencita' which I believe is smaller and red coloured. I have a greenhouse which I can put them in until they can go outside. I am hoping to get them out in the garden in May (weather co-operating !).
Heather

I have the red, these ones called silver frost, and the zanaibar.. I sometimes start them in pots just so they dont get damaged, but usually i just drop the seed right in the ground.. End of may is always when we plant seeds here.. Its the safe date for no more frost.. Our silver ones were well over 12 feet last year and the giant ones well they were up to the roof line for the first story.. They will get taller if planted in full sun.. I had some on shade that did very bad and were only 5 feet.. wasn't worth it.. I also put some in huge pots thinking they would be ok they only got 3 feet and that again was a waste.. The were root bound i'm sure..
Best plant i ever grew, I wouldn't go a year without planting them now that i have had them once.. makes everything so tropical looking
jen

I grow no names, and will be starting them this weekend. They produce seed every year but don't get huge. Happy Gardening

I have saved seeds which I don't know the variety.
Carmencita and Gibsoni are the others I have. I did them in pots one year,but they did not grow tall,- so start in peat pots and then move to garden bed.

jen, that's an amazing bed! Everything is huge! Is that a Banana plant? If so, how do you overwinter it?

Sandy

Sandy its a canna 'Musifolia' also called banana canna.. One of my favorite plants and so easy to grow.. For storage I just dig it up and store the roots in the basement.. Thanks... Everything was really bigger, hoping to have the same luck this year
jen

jen, I've never heard of a banana canna. Interesting! Tks
Sandy

Very easy to grow, easy to store too.. and everyone that comes over thinks it a banana tree... heres a pic when it was smaller
jen

One of my old saved seeds has sprouted--- a red colour sprout so is that?
Carmencita?

the Carmencita, New Zealand Purple, Carmencita Pink are all pretty close when starting out, i would guess its Carmencita since that one around here its the most common.. you can rule out 'Zanzibarensis' as that ones totally green..

Thanks as I can not remember which varieties I grew.