Allotments 4 All

T&M now seem to have these in their range 40 seeds for £1.99

Several seed companies now stock them. Mine originally came from the Heritage Seed Library and I save some of the seed each year.

Mine originally came from Robinsons, though the one in the photo is a second generation. 

Georgie very kindly sent me a few Crimson Flour'd seeds that I'll be growing this year.  :)

I saved some seeds last year which may have crossed with Red Epicure, so fingers crossed for something interesting!

So..what colour are broad bean flowers normally/usually?

Mortality they are normally white and black like this
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cah44/2444011046/
Mind you the variety Medes that I'm growing this year is all white
http://stanford.wellsphere.com/gardening-article/broad-bean-flowers-and-pods/699523
Crimson/red varieties almost became extinct so ones that are still available are usually heritage/heirloom seeds.

Whitish. The red ones can be quite ornamental, but you may need to select seed from the deepest red.

I picked up some at the Whitchurch potato day - main reason being they claimed to be resistant to blackfly and our crop last year was hammered by that

The red ones really do attract the bees.  The beans they produce are rather small as are the pods.  I tend to grow them for the colour and the bees.

My original packet from robinsons contained various colours: Pink, black, grey, and actually only about 25% crimson but the second generations contained some stunning ones.  I don't know what they had crossed with but they were much bigger plants and some had huge flowers and there was a much higher percent crimson.


Blackfly - Put the packet of bean seeds in the fridge and leave it for a week or so before sowing.

Digeroo I know that the red flowers are fragrant but were the others you had?
I must remember your tip as I'm determined not to have mine succumb to blackfly this year!

I am sorry I have no idea.  I was so peeved to have so many muddy greys, dusty pinks and blacks I actually did not smell them.  Though actually a couple of pink and black ones were very attractive.  Robinsons were very good and did replace the packet, the next year the crimson ones were a higher percent.  But the bees certainly liked them all. 

Ive had the same experience with Robinson's seed. I assumed at first that they just hadn't been selected for colour, but then I had some from POD which were much more consistent. I now suspect some accidental hybridisation in the Robinson's strain.

Quote from: Digeroo on February 05, 2010, 18:17:32
Blackfly - Put the packet of bean seeds in the fridge and leave it for a week or so before sowing.

That's a great tip, have you tried it with other seeds ie. broad beans, and how does it work please?

Quote from: Emagggie on February 06, 2010, 07:44:22

Quote from: Digeroo on February 05, 2010, 18:17:32
Blackfly - Put the packet of bean seeds in the fridge and leave it for a week or so before sowing.

That's a great tip, have you tried it with other seeds ie. broad beans, and how does it work please?

I read an identical tip in Gardening Which? as a means of preventing the much more fundamentally intractable problem of pea&bean weevil damage in the seeds themselves (which in my personal opinion is the main reason the seed companies sell us old seeds with ridiculously poor germination).

I can't help but think this is a case of wires getting crossed in the passing on of advice (like the "chinese whispers" game). The idea that a seed treatment can affect the performance of the plant several months later strikes me as sheer superstition.

Blackfly attack in my experience is completely unpredictable - the evidence looks completely chaotic. Every year a different sowing bears the brunt of the attack.

My personal belief is that the spring weather influences when the ladybirds arrive, and this decides which sowing is saved from blackfly and which gets overwhelmed...

I have found "crimson flowered" does better than average anyway - because it is a late-sown variety and they generally have a lower chance of attack (the ladybirds are seldom absent so late)...

I am sorry for any confusion but the picture was taken last summer.   Just to add interest to the post.

This year I have several batches, some from HSL, some of my own saved ones and now T&M.  It will be interesting to see what comes out best.

I have no idea of why freezing the seeds could possibly have any effect but I heard the tip on Gardeners Question Time many many years ago.  There was an outbreak of dissent on the programme about it.  But I have done it with success ever since and my broad beans were noticeably less affected on the allotments than other peoples.  Several people asked me why.

I find it surprising that freezing dried seed should affect it at all; it doesn't affect germination unless you plant it first! It sounds as though systematic experimentation is needed to establish whether there's any truth in it.