I thought the group might be interested in my experience this year
with Scarlet Runner Beans. I grew these for the first time this year,
more intriqued by the flowers actually than by the beans. I treated
them like pole beans.

During the hot summer months, the beans grew and flowered, but set no
beans. Had I not been so lazy, I would have pulled them out for lack
of productivity. But the flowers are so pretty!

Finally, about a month ago, definitely in the cool of fall, the plants
began to bear beans! They are continuing to bear even now - we haven't
had a frost yet, remarkably. The crop is never heavy, but continuous.

The beans themselves are flattish, like an Italian bean. The range of
sizes is incredible - some are only a few inches long and some grow to
a foot long. No matter how big we let them get, they still cook up
tender and tasty. Actually, the taste is better than expected - some
references said the beans were mediocre as green beans. I haven't let
any of them mature as dry beans.

If anyone has experience with Scarlet Runner Beans, perhaps you can
shed some light on this behavior, which I regard as unusual for beans.

Guy Bradley
Chesterfield MO
zone 6

In article ,
says...
During the hot summer months, the beans grew and flowered, but set no
beans.

Finally, about a month ago, definitely in the cool of fall, the plants
began to bear beans!

I also tried them for the first time. They did the same thing for me
(Zone 5).

While I'd heard that the blooms were sufficient to grow the plant just as
an ornamental, I wasn't that impressed. Yes the blooms are pretty, but
they're not that large or that numerous.

The beans themselves are flattish, like an Italian bean. The range of
sizes is incredible - some are only a few inches long and some grow to
a foot long. No matter how big we let them get, they still cook up
tender and tasty.

Mine were similar on size, but we found the larger ones to be tough. We
may have gotten different varieties as mine weren't all that flat. I
won't plant them again. I'll use the space for more Northeaster pole
beans. Now there's one that stays tender at 8-12 inches :-).


--
Where ARE those Iraqi WMDs?

On Mon, 20 Oct 2003 09:31:48 -0500, "Guy Bradley"
wrote:


If anyone has experience with Scarlet Runner Beans, perhaps you can
shed some light on this behavior, which I regard as unusual for beans.


They're very popular in the UK, which usually isn't as hot
in summer as most of the USA.

I grew them only once, a long time ago, when I lived in
Alberta, Canada. I was not very impressed by their taste,
but maybe they've been improved since then. This was about
25 years ago.

Pat
--
To email me, remove the spam trap and type my first
name in its place.

CLICK DAILY TO FEED THE HUNGRY
United States: http://www.stopthehunger.com/
International: http://www.thehungersite.com/

The Scarlet Runner has in the USA for a long time but mostly grown as an
ornamental. There are newer varieties of runner beans, P. coccineus, that are
more productive, All of them that I tried do not set well in warm climates,
prefering a climate akin to England, Northern Europe. They are different from
pole beans, P. vulgaris which seems more adaptable to U.S. climates

I thought the group might be interested in my experience this year
with Scarlet Runner Beans. I grew these for the first time this year,
more intriqued by the flowers actually than by the beans. I treated
them like pole beans.

During the hot summer months, the beans grew and flowered, but set no
beans. Had I not been so lazy, I would have pulled them out for lack
of productivity. But the flowers are so pretty!

Finally, about a month ago, definitely in the cool of fall, the plants
began to bear beans! They are continuing to bear even now - we haven't
had a frost yet, remarkably. The crop is never heavy, but continuous.

The beans themselves are flattish, like an Italian bean. The range of
sizes is incredible - some are only a few inches long and some grow to
a foot long. No matter how big we let them get, they still cook up
tender and tasty. Actually, the taste is better than expected - some
references said the beans were mediocre as green beans. I haven't let
any of them mature as dry beans.

If anyone has experience with Scarlet Runner Beans, perhaps you can
shed some light on this behavior, which I regard as unusual for beans.

Guy Bradley
Chesterfield MO
zone 6



Thr Scarlet Runner has been in this country for a long time, but mostly grown
as an onamental. There are other cultivars of runner beans, Phaseolus coccineus
,that are improved as far as production is concerned. All that I have
encountered do not set well in hot weather. They prefer climate like northern
Europe.

Scarlet Runner beans, very popular in UK, as you say they don't like the
intense heat.
We grow them every year here in the Niagara Peninsula, Ontario.
Best if picked on a regular basis, if left too long on the plant they will
be stringy, meaning a tough strings each join side of bean must be removed
during preparation to each, top and tail bean remove any strings , and
french "slice about 1/2 slices on the diagonal" drop slices into salted
cold water bring to boil and cook till just tender, drain and serve.
First frost will finish plants, ours have just finished, :-(((( jblts


"Guy Bradley" wrote in message
...
I thought the group might be interested in my experience this year
with Scarlet Runner Beans. I grew these for the first time this year,
more intriqued by the flowers actually than by the beans. I treated
them like pole beans.

During the hot summer months, the beans grew and flowered, but set no
beans. Had I not been so lazy, I would have pulled them out for lack
of productivity. But the flowers are so pretty!

Finally, about a month ago, definitely in the cool of fall, the plants
began to bear beans! They are continuing to bear even now - we haven't
had a frost yet, remarkably. The crop is never heavy, but continuous.

The beans themselves are flattish, like an Italian bean. The range of
sizes is incredible - some are only a few inches long and some grow to
a foot long. No matter how big we let them get, they still cook up
tender and tasty. Actually, the taste is better than expected - some
references said the beans were mediocre as green beans. I haven't let
any of them mature as dry beans.

If anyone has experience with Scarlet Runner Beans, perhaps you can
shed some light on this behavior, which I regard as unusual for beans.

Guy Bradley
Chesterfield MO
zone 6

While we're on the subject of Scarlet Runner Beans...
I grew them for 2 or 3 years bout 20 years ago. There are varieties that
have been selected for tender very edible beans. They produced a steady
crop of beans all summer (once they started).
I'm writing because I read that these runner beans actually produce a
tuber and would be perennial where the ground doesn't freeze. I believe
I read that these tubers could be saved and replanted in the spring to
produce a faster growing plant next year compared to starting over from
seed.
Does anyone know about this? If not, maybe one of you could dig up a
plant after frost kills it and see if there really is a tuber down there.

Steve in the Adirondacks

"Steve" wrote in message wrote

While we're on the subject of Scarlet Runner Beans...
(snip)
I'm writing because I read that these runner beans actually produce a
tuber and would be perennial where the ground doesn't freeze. I believe
I read that these tubers could be saved and replanted in the spring to
produce a faster growing plant next year compared to starting over from
seed.

They are also called Seven Year Beans. They are perennial but I don't know
if from a tuber or not and I wouldn't dig one up as they are simply left in
the same place and come up again the next year. As you say, this applies to
where the ground doesn't freeze, but they are also a better cold climate
bean than the French Bush bean.

"FarmerDill" wrote in message

Thr Scarlet Runner has been in this country for a long time, but mostly
grown
as an onamental. There are other cultivars of runner beans, Phaseolus
coccineus
,that are improved as far as production is concerned. All that I have
encountered do not set well in hot weather. They prefer climate like
northern
Europe.

I think you must have your beans mixed up.

The name "Scarlet Runner" is the name that applies to phaseolus coccineus.
Phaselos from greek for bean and coccineus is 'scarlet' in Latin..

"Guy Bradley" wrote in message

During the hot summer months, the beans grew and flowered, but set no
beans. Had I not been so lazy, I would have pulled them out for lack
of productivity. But the flowers are so pretty!

Older gardeners round here advice that to improve bean set, hose lightly at
dusk to cool them.

runner beans actually produce a
tuber and would be perennial where the ground doesn't freeze. I believe
I read that these tubers could be saved and replanted in the spring

This is true. We're on our fourth year of automatic beans. I don't know if
it's botanically a tuber; it looks like a big woody potato peeking out of the
ground. We have never dug them up. That might be a little risky, but if you're
in a climate witth freezes in winter you have nothing to lose by trying.

Yes Runners do like to be hosed down, to pretend it's rain like in UK.
Every one I know grows them in UK and no one speaks of tubers in the ground
or to say automatic plants.
My husband say's when he pulls our up at the end of the season, it is just
'root'.
But we do save some of the actual beans from one year to the next for
growing. We never eat them as a bean from inside the pod. qahtan



"Fran" wrote in message
...
"Guy Bradley" wrote in message

During the hot summer months, the beans grew and flowered, but set no
beans. Had I not been so lazy, I would have pulled them out for lack
of productivity. But the flowers are so pretty!

Older gardeners round here advice that to improve bean set, hose lightly
at
dusk to cool them.

I think you must have your beans mixed up.

The name "Scarlet Runner" is the name that applies to phaseolus coccineus.
Phaselos from greek for bean and coccineus is 'scarlet' in Latin..


Not really! The Scarlet Runner is a cultivar of P. coccineus ( runner beans).
Others include Hammond, Goliath, Prize Winner, Painted Lady, White Dutch Runner
, ... The point is that it has different climatic requirements from the common
varieties of pole , bush, shell, beans which are cultivars of P. vugaris.

The flowers of scarlet runner beans are edible and can be used in salads and
other culinary creations. Just a thought the next time you have tons of
flowers on the bean plants.

Take care,

--
Lynn Smythe
e-mail:
website: http://users.adelphia.net/~lynnsmythe

"Guy Bradley" wrote in message
...
I thought the group might be interested in my experience this year
with Scarlet Runner Beans. I grew these for the first time this year,
more intriqued by the flowers actually than by the beans. I treated
them like pole beans.

During the hot summer months, the beans grew and flowered, but set no
beans. Had I not been so lazy, I would have pulled them out for lack
of productivity. But the flowers are so pretty!

Finally, about a month ago, definitely in the cool of fall, the plants
began to bear beans! They are continuing to bear even now - we haven't
had a frost yet, remarkably. The crop is never heavy, but continuous.

The beans themselves are flattish, like an Italian bean. The range of
sizes is incredible - some are only a few inches long and some grow to
a foot long. No matter how big we let them get, they still cook up
tender and tasty. Actually, the taste is better than expected - some
references said the beans were mediocre as green beans. I haven't let
any of them mature as dry beans.

If anyone has experience with Scarlet Runner Beans, perhaps you can
shed some light on this behavior, which I regard as unusual for beans.

Guy Bradley
Chesterfield MO
zone 6

I foget to mention that Scarlet Runners are supposed to do better (set more
beans) if the soil is innoculated. Find someone who has grown them for
years and beg a few handfuls of soil to add to where you will grow them.