In article , Ron
writes
Urglers,

This year I have grown two lots of runner beans on wigwams. The seeds
we- Unwins "Scarlet Emperor" at £1.99 a packet and their "Polestar" at
£2.79 a packet. The raised bed in which the beans were grown was treated
with farmyard compost before planting out the greenhouse grown plants. They
have been well and regularly watered. The growing methods I used this year
were no different to those I have used for many years in various gardens.

To tell the truth, my wife and I are very disappointed with both beans, for
although they germinated well, produced prolific stem, side shoots, leaf
growth and plenty of flowers, the beans are short. badly shaped and they
certainly lack taste. In fact, I would go so far as to say that their taste
is akin to the cash crop almost tastless runner beans we get early in the
year from some African countries which are a pleasant change of veg. in the
late winter, but make me look forward to tasty beans from our garden. I
will not grow these beans again.

I would be interested to know others' opinions of these beans and if anybody
can recommend a runner bean with tons of taste . . . . . .

For many years I have grown 'Enorma', which is a highly recommended
runner bean for flavour if the pods are not allowed to get too big. We
normally pick them at about 6 inches long.

Sadly this year they have been a disappointment, but this is down to
vermin attacking the plants after they have been planted out, rather
than any shortcomings of the variety.
--
Roy Bailey
West Berkshire.