Castor Oil Plant Info ?

Just working on my 2017 wish list . I have always liked the reddy / purple Castor oil plant as photo from Cooltropicalplants. Does this show Ricinus communis 'New Zealand purple' ?
Is the photo colour true ?
Now the question on the seed toxicity . Do they develop poisonous seeds in our growing season. is the best thing to remove the flower/seed heads. Are they safe with a small dog ?
Quite a few questions - TIA

 

I'm growing them this year @HarryS . Mine aren't that purple but have a crimson hue to them probably due to being grown in full sun. You can remove the seed pods as they develop, just wash your hands after. They get to around 3-4 foot before seeds start

 

Not grown them for a few years.
The pic does look just a little over done, but I do like the dark foliage and mostly the speed of growth.
They do produce seed here at the end of the summer.

I used to grow them when I had dogs but must admit to not giving it a second thought, must admit to be wary if I had a puppy, but older dogs dont tend to eat everything in sight, or do they

As Mowgley says very easy to cut off the flowering spike before it forms, might even go on to produce more leaves that way also.

 

Come across these plants in Malta. I did have some growing in my garden in the UK a few years ago but got rid of them as they were potentially poisonous.
http://www.manikata.com/castor-oil-plants

This plant produces the deadly poison ricin, this plant is the most poisonous in the world according to the Guinness book of records.

 

Grown these for a number of years, mainly for the foliage the flowers and seed pods are interesting. I've saved seed, successfully, in the past. If I had children or young visitors I would both plant away from the front of the boarder and remove the seed pods when formed.
Fortunately it is quite difficult to extract and purify ricin.
While the seed is poisonous I would be more wary of the Aconitum species as all parts of these are deadly poisonous

 

Thanks all Lots of excellent advice . Still have a quandary with the ricin element . Then again 10's of thousands of these plants must be grown each year by gardeners , and to my knowledge the morgues aren't full of ricin victims . To be a tad on the cautious side I'll grow at the front of the house. @mowgley does the colour develop better in shade or sun , do you think?

 

Id say sun @HarryS they seem to have glosser leaves in sun

 

Go for it Harry.....

Just think where would us gardeners be if we didn't take a risk occasionally.....

There's be no Lily of the Valley, Laburnum, Yew, Narcissi/Daffodil, Foxgloves etc etc