If you're like me, when you think of bean blossoms (if you ever really even think about them at all) you just say, "Ach bean blossoms.....Yawnnn :-o .... Forget the blooms, just gimmie them beans". Alot of the time you'd be right, because the overwhelming majority of beran blossoms really ARE boring from an esthetic point of view. Boring if you are talking about French beans--runner beans are another thing altogether. They are different in so many ways, not the least of which are their flowers. They come in several colours and in some cases, they are bi-coloured. So, runner beans can be a real treat for the eye as well as the tongue. I know that showing these flowers is sort of close to the most recent posting of some runner bean buds, but today they were open and looking flashy, so I thought I'd show you how pretty they can be. See what you think about these two types: The first one is the scarlet flowered "Lady Di", whose buds I posted a pic of just a couple of days ago. The second is the "Sunset" look-alike, "Celebration", which I am trying for the first time this year. The last foto shows them both in relative proximity to eachother.
Well, those ARE some fancy little flowers, very ruffly, aren't they? I have been following this runner bean story from the beginning and look forward to the next installment. I only wish I could taste the beans! Do the flowers have a fragrance? The red on the Lady Di is just gorgeous, isn't it? I am excited to see what the beans look like to see if there is anything that I know that is similar or if it's something totally new. Any beans that I've ever planted before had yellow blossoms if I remember correctly. Everything in your lottie looks so wonderful and the bean flowers are no exception.
I'd be proud to show off bean flowers like yours Sjoerd any day. They remind me so much of sweet peas and are such lovely colours. :-D
Great flowers on the beans Sjoerd...I have never grown beans...I focus on flowers but I do have 2 tomato plants.
Yes Droopy--that is one reason that I conside them as arch decoration: beautiful to look at and deliciopus to eat! it's a win-win situation. Daisy--I wish that you could taste them too. Perhaps you should grow a few. One can still plant them for another week yet. I have never smelled a fragrance--certainaly not like a Lathyrus odoratus at any rate. The red on the Lady Di begins pure scarlet and then turns a more vermillion-ish tint before wilting and falling off. Runners have a variety of coloured blooms. For instance the old stand-by, "Painted Lady" has red AND white bi-coloured blooms Runner bean seeds are also quiter interesting,. I find in that they are often speckles and have a very high-polished quality that makes them "slippery" in a dry sort of way. I shall post fotos of the beans when they are ready to be picked so that you can see them. The beans are long (the Lady Di can be 12 inches) and they are sort of flatish. I really do not know if this type of bean is known in north america, but it will grow there. I believe that a poster from Canada said that she grows them. You cpould try growing runners in a garden plot, or on a trellis on the south side of your house or an arch...the only thing is water--you have to water these types of beans often to get the most out of them, unlike the French beans. Of course this is all well and good...but you do have to like the taste of them if you want to grow them in any quantity. Yes Eileen--they do resemble sweet pea blooms. I really like those too I have some sweet peas that are struggling at the moment. The temps have been a bit too cold for them to do much, I believe (especially at night).
Those are lovely, especially the Lady Di. Thompson-Morgan has them on their UK site but they are sold out on the US site. They are on my list for next year now.
I hope that you can get some ... I can't imaging you being disappointed with the blooms or the beans themselves.
