We’ve had a tiny dusting of snow and many nights of frost and the castor bean leaves had all shriveled.
People kept telling me it would turn to mush as soon as the temperatures fell but it was still solid as a rock. I pruned off what I could without a hacksaw and left this poor trunk.
Now of course I’m second-guessing this decision. What if it would have survived the freezing cold to rebloom next spring? That’s impossible in 8b, right?
It's very unlikely that it would come back after a normal winter…but, this really has been another mild winter…I'd wait and see. Sprouting from the trunk would be a huge surprise…but there is a chance it might come back from the roots…have you mulched around the base at all? A pile of leaves around the base might (MIGHT) insulate them enough to keep them alive until the weather warms…if they haven't frozen through yet. As unpredictable as our weather has been these past two years, we can't really say anything for certain, can we?
If it does come back, we need to have some sort of party for it!
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