![]() ‘Painted Lady’ runner beans have fleshy bi-color blossoms. ‘Scarlet Runner’ pods open to reveal beautiful lavender beans, which unfortunately will fade to brownish-purple when cooked. This and other sources are listed at the end of this article. For the gardener interested in branching out beyond ‘Scarlet Runner’, Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa, offers dozens of varieties to its members. All white-flowered runners produce plump, delicious white seeds. ![]() ‘Sunset’ has lovely peachy-hued blossoms, and there are a number of whites to choose from such as ‘White Dutch’, ‘Grammy Tilley’, ‘The Czar’ and ‘Desirée’. ![]() The colorfully named ‘Painted Lady’, a Victorian favorite, is a scarlet and white bi-color. Today in both Mexico and Guatemala these wild, small-seeded vines can still be found growing as perennials in cool, partially shaded locations where they climb up and over other vegetation.Īlthough both the Latin name of the runner bean, Phaseolus coccineus ( coccineus is Latin for “scarlet”), and the name of its most well-known cultivar, ‘Scarlet Runner’, point to its prominent floral feature, not all runners have these notable red-orange blossoms. Remains of their pods that may be as old as 6,000 years have been found in a cave in northeastern Mexico, but botanists disagree about whether these were a wild or domesticated type. Runner beans, along with other members of the Phaseolus clan such as common and lima beans, are native to the so-called New World. Their taste and tenderness was a revelation and the beginning of my passion for this versatile legume that combines the beauty of the flower garden with the food value of the kitchen garden. At this stage, the pods are tender and benefit from simple culinary treatment.Īlerted to the culinary possibilities of runner beans by enthusiastic accounts from friends visiting England, where they are often grown as vegetables, I began to experiment with them in my kitchen. ![]() Both the young pods and flowers of runner beans are tasty. The beauty of these blossoms was supplemented by the glittery brilliance of the ruby-throated hummingbirds that darted from flower to flower. By July, the vines bore racemes of striking red-orange blossoms against lush green foliage. Each year, I planted the substantial lavender and black seeds of ‘Scarlet Runner’ and stood back as they sprouted and rapidly clambered up a rustic trellis at the entrance to my garden. Before I knew better, I grew runner beans strictly as an ornamental. ![]()
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