Allotments 4 All
Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: Digeroo on January 14, 2022, 19:05:13
-
For me runner beans are normally white, almost black or sometimes reddish. But one of our plot holders tipped the remains of the runner beans onto the spare area. So I took some of the beans. They are pale brown and white. Can anyone suggest a variety.
-
I was not aware of what colour the flowers were. The beans were not particularly long, but they produced huge amounts of ripe beans. They are so attractive, lovely shiny seeds.
-
More than likely the result of a climbing french bean that got a bit friendly with an unrelated variety. Happens a lot on allotments when you grow from saved seed.
-
"Scarlet Emperor" beans are red.
-
Climbing French beans are relatively stable... and rarely cross pollinate, Runner Beans are notoriously promiscuous so have probably crossed.
-
Moonlight was supposed to be one of the first Runner/French hybrids - certainly there was a lot of hype to that effect - I wouldn't be surprised if it was a rare occurrence.
French beans do cross with other French beans fairly often - I've noticed this seems to happen more often in 'bad' years - though the sample size is too small to confirm anything.
All I know is that Borlotti 'firetongue' will cross (randomly) with Blue Coco to produce buff seeds with black markings or the inverse. One lot grows into green beans with purple flames on them and the other produces purple beans with green flames.
I'm trying to keep both going but some other crosses have proved very unstable; eg. a cross with Coco Bi-Colour produced seeds that were like lapis-blue fancy jasper when fresh (but less beautiful when dry) - I'm hoping that cross will happen again...
I must say that if you settle onto growing the best flavour varieties near each other then all your crosses will tend to be new good flavour varieties - and some of those might be more ornamental then their parents.
Oh, and if you see unusual seed patterns then sow them...
Cheers.
-
They look very like my runner bean seeds though mine are usually a bit pinker. They are saved seed from an Enorma ancestor from 1984 - I bought a pack when we first moved here and have saved ever since. Red flowers, totally reliable big tasty beans. I used to grow surplus for sale back in the day, it was a nice little earner.
-
Many thanks. There is no pink in them at all. They are cream and light brown and shiny, so so shiny.
Moonlight have white beans. I have kept moonlight beans not sure if they are self fertile the following year but they grow well.
I know that runner beans cross, but these are very regular in their colour. None of them are a different colour.
It will be interesting next year to see what colour the flowers are.
-
I would say these are the traditional runner bean variety, ‘Painted Lady’ which have red and white flowers and this brown and creamy white colouring in the bean.
https://www.resilientseeds.com/store/p8/Dry_Pole_Bean_-_Painted_Lady_%28Certified_Organic%29.html
https://koanga.org.nz/gardens/product/runner-bean-painted-lady/
-
I’d also guess Painted Lady, but I’d plant up a wigwam of them when planting time comes around and see what you get!
-
Brilliant both!! Thank you. They do seem to look like Painted Lady. The pictures online look darker. Perhaps they darken up over time.
The pods were also quite short as runners go. But seems that is a good tasting variety, so I will give it a go. They were dripping in beans, you cannot believe how many pods they threw away with the finished plants. So would seem they pollinate easily as well.
So yes I already have a spot pencilled in for them.
-
And very pretty when in flower.
-
Painted Lady is a good reminder that they were grown as purely "ornamental" plants until the mid-Victorian period.
-
The only time I grew "Painted Lady" I felt they went stringy too quickly. The more modern varieties haven't had that defect for me.
-
Many thanks for the warning, I will try and catch them early.
It seems too that in the USA they grow them for the dried beans and completely ignore the lovely green bean stage.
But I suppose if you picked one too late and just got a mouthful of toughness it would be off putting. My mother was terrible at serving them like that.
I do find shops often sell them too old for my taste.
-
I tend to pick runner beans before they get much bigger than French beans - they seem to taste more like French too - which I prefer - I tend to grow white seeded kinds anyway (mainly because the late-season-lumpy ones are better as "butter beans" for stews) - but maybe I'm just fooling myself (into enjoying them more...).
I haven't noticed any effects from picking smaller - mainly because I grow less of them - I suppose if you grow a lot it might mean more time picking.
Cheers.