SCARLET RUNNER BEANS

 

Scarlet Runner Bean Flowers

Scarlet Runner Beans
(Phaseolus coccineus)
Harvested 10-2020
Shaw Island, San Juan Archipelago.

Scarlet Runner Beans

Botanical name: Phaseolus coccineus

Life cycle: tender perennial

Native growing region: mountains of Mexico and Central America

Special features: In Mesoamerica, the thick starchy roots are used as food. 

Flowers: the plants produce scarlet red, typical legume flowers that open at sunrise and fade at sunset. Highly attractive to hummingbirds and other pollinators. The flowers are edible with a bean-like flavor and can be added to salads.

Notes: Quick growing, twining vines can get up to 20-feet, but usually closer to 10-ft. Under ideal conditions the scarlet runner bean is the most productive of all beans, taking approximately 2 months after sowing to produce the attractive, vibrant bloom. They will readily cross-pollinate so they must be isolated in order to have seed from heirloom varieties come true.

The dried seeds, which have a chestnut flavor, require a long soaking and cooking time.

Often grown as an ornamental for the colorful flowers. Removing the developing pods will encourage the plant to continue to flower. Use the vining plants as a temporary cover on a chain-link fence, as a seasonal barrier. 

In 1806, the Philadelphia nurseyman Bernard McMahon wrote it was grown in the US exclusively as an ornamental.

For best results grow the Scarlet Runner Bean in full sun in rich soil with plenty of organic matter and average moisture. 

Note: this species is more cold-tolerant of cold soil in spring than other beans.

Dried seed viability: 3-4 years.

Harvest: 75 days.