Token,

That New Zealand Purple is a tall castor bean and it probably will support a moonvine. Its large leaves may cast a lot shade that the moonvine doesn't like, but maybe not. It certainly seems worth an experiment.

There are some varieties of sunflowers that grow very tall and they might be candidate supports for moonvines as well.

There are also some varieties of corn that grow very tall, and they also might be worth experimenting with.

Growing your own living trellis is an interesting idea, but it provides a few challenges. For one thing, there is the matter of timing, so that the trellis grows on up ahead of the moonvine. If the moonvine gets too far ahead of the living trellis, it might tend to "pile up" on top of the trellis and topple it.

ZM

Thanks ZM. I plan to start the castor beans inside in early March. Last year, my moonvine started off really slow, but a heat wave in June zapped everything for a couple weeks. I'm going to give it a shot. I like the idea of mixing the red/purple leaves with the white flower of the moonvine. If it starts to topple the castor, I can always cut the moonvine out.

The Moonvine is quite heavy-I honestly don't think a young Castor Bean will support it very well.