Hello Sue,
You probably already know this, but I will mention it anyway. The seeds of castor beans are intensely poisonous (I suspect all parts of the plant may be to some extent), and because they are so "pretty", they can be attractive to children.
So you should take measures to prevent children from having access to the beans.
I removed the flowers on my castor bean plants as soon as they appeared, to prevent them from setting any beans. I took that approach, because I wasn't sure I could keep the neighbor's children from accessing the plants. Castor beans contain Ricin, a very potent and dangerous poison.
ZM
