How are your runner beans doing?
by Sarah - July 20th, 2011.Filed under: garden, Uncategorized.
I’ve seen loads of people’s runner beans and some have been at the top of the poles and some covered in flowers. Mine are about half way up!
Claire’s video about planting them is interesting.
Remember to put the canes in first!
Beans like lots of good stuff in the soil – work in as much compost as possible.
I like the way she starts them off with a tie to the stick so they get started. Perhaps that steadies them and helps them get a good start?
I always put two seeds per pot. I don’t think it hurts and then if one does get eaten then it’s not a huge problem.
Thompson & Morgan just added these new products
Runner Bean ‘Desiree’ – 1 packet (50 seeds) £3.69
In recent years we have introduced and developed vegetables that have achieved real steps forward in yield, flavour, space saving, disease tolerance; etc. This bean fits into this category and is outstanding in every way. Almost foolproof, it attains huge crops from a small area. Long, broad, completely stringless, very fleshy 25-30cm (10-12in) pods. Very heavy cropping, often averages 40 pods per plant. As it is a shy seeder there is more juicy fleshy edible area, which accounts for the exceptional flavour. Compared with other runner beans it is much more productive under dry weather conditions. White flowered.
Runner Bean ‘Wisley Magic’ – 1 packet (40 seeds) £3.29
Wisley Magic won an RHS AGM in the 1999 Runner Bean trials and was voted ‘The Best on Trial’ as it produced the heaviest yield of quality beans over a long picking season. Runner Bean Wisley Magic has attractive bright red flowers produce long smooth, slender pods, easily reaching 35cm (14in) long. Although not stringless, Wisley Magic has a low fibre content and a superior flavour – that ‘old fashioned’ runner bean taste. Seeds are in the RHS Vegetable Collection.
Runner Bean ‘Summer Medley’ – 1 packet (45 seeds) £3.29
A vibrant flower colour medley of red, white and pink, to give a spectacular display, quality beans and a long picking period all summer. Runner Bean Summer Medley is ideal for adding colour to your vegetable or flower garden, or in containers on the patio. Try adding Sun Bright and Sweet Pea Floral Tribute for a sensational colour combination.
Runner Bean ‘Achievement Merit’ – 1 packet (40 seeds) £3.29
A British re-selection that gives an improved form of the ever popular Achievement. Runner Bean Achievement Merit gives heavy yields of long, smooth, slender straight pods that have exquisite flavour which are produced in abundance from these RHS Vegetable Collection seeds over a long season. Tender beans, ideal for use in the kitchen or on the show bench. Red flowered variety, particularly attractive in the garden.
Dwarf Runner Bean ‘Hestia’ – 1 packet (50 seeds) £3.29
A superb variety with all the best characteristics of modern runner beans, but on dwarf plants. Runner Bean Hestia is early to crop, often before standard types, with a good yield of tasty, long, straight, stringless pods, held above the soil to avoid disease. Dwarf Runner Bean Hestia is ideal for small gardens, large containers and borders where its bicoloured flowers of red and white make an attractive addition.Suitable For Freezing
Runner Bean ‘Enorma’ – Duchy Originals Organic Seeds – 1 packet (30 seeds) £2.99
Bumper crops of very long straight, slender pods. Runner Bean Enorma produces beans with a fine texture and first class flavour. Pods grow up to 50cm in length.
Runner Bean ‘Benchmaster’ – 1 packet (40 seeds) £2.99
A top quality, red flowered British-bred variety producing pods of over 40cm (16″) in length. Abundant crops of pods hang in clusters and are fleshy, but slender, smooth and straight. For exhibition, thin to one pod per flower stem to increase the length of each bean. Runner beans are a good source of Vitamin C, folate and iron, and have a high fibre content. Runner Bean ‘Benchmaster’ is also suitable for freezing. Height: 3m (10’). Spread: 30cm (12″).
Runner Bean ‘Moonlight’ – 1 packet (45 seeds) £2.99
A major breakthrough in British runner bean breeding, offering predominantly self setting plants for a guaranteed crop. This profusely white-flowering variety combines the valuable characteristics of French beans with those of runner beans, resulting in extra smooth, very fleshy, stringless pods up to 25cm (10″) long, with a great texture and true runner bean taste. The vastly improved flower setting of Runner Bean ‘Moonlight’ means an earlier and continual crop even during poor weather. Height: 3m (10’). Spread: 30cm (12″).
Runner Bean ‘Scarlet Emperor’ – 1 packet (20 seeds) £1.99
Heavy crops of smooth textured, dark-green pods, each reaching 30-37cm (12-15″) in length. Red flowered Runner Bean ‘Scarlet Emperor’ is excellent for freezing and for exhibition. Runner beans are a good source of Vitamin C, folate and iron, and have a high fibre content. Height: 3m (10’). Spread: 30cm (12″).
Dwarf Runner Bean ‘Pickwick’ – 1 packet (12 seeds) £1.89
Phaseolus coccineus. The bushy, dwarf plants of Dwarf Bean Bellini produce masses of red flowers which look stunning in a container, or direct outside, followed by short succulent beans. Pick regularly for a long season of harvest.