My guess would be Croton sp. Here is a link that might be useful: Croton capitatus

After google- I believe you are correct, thanks. Eumeces fasciatus - Young have a bright blue tail while adult males often loose their stripes and develop reddish or orange coloration on the head. Here is a link that might be useful: More info

I was thinking M. virginiana, but seemed too obvious, so thought it must be something else. The second picture, with its semi-deciduous look, looks just like mine, so, it might be just that. If it is virginiana and has not flowered, they really are missing something delightful in fragrance. Its small flowers even more aromatic than M.grandiflora. It is much underutilized in the North where Saucers and Star Mags dominate. Apparently, there are northern and southern varieties of the same virginiana species. The northern ones are more deciduous, the southern ones more semi-evergreen. This post was edited by njoasis on Thu, Jan 1, 15 at 18:57

Is that as tall as it gets? If they get about 3 feet tall and eventually get yellow flowers it could even be Iris pseudacorus.