Bean Scarlet Runner (5 Seeds)

The edible flowers have a bean-like flavor and can be used in salads. The green pods are edible until they become fibrous and can be boiled, steamed, sautéed, or baked (but should be eaten raw only sparingly). Because they are tougher than many green beans, they are best sliced before cooking.

Scarlet runner beans are hugely vigorous growers, and in native conditions can potentially reach 6m in a season. Of course, your garden and climate is unlikely to produce such monsters, and in any case upward growth can be controlled by pinching out the growing tips once the vines reach a height you're happy with.

The plant grows with a single stem which spirals up and around support, bearing large, green, deeply veined leaves. A couple of months after germination, the plant will develop clusters of dramatic scarlet flowers.

Once pollinated - see below - each flower in the cluster will go on to produce a pod, which at maturity will be flat, fibrous, 1-2cm wide, and up to 20cm long.

When the pods are young, the seeds inside will be a pale pink which darkens over time to a deep violet, eventually turning to a crimson-speckled black. The final seeds will be around 2-3cm long, with between six and eight in an average pod.

Quantity: Scarlet Runner Bean (5 Seeds) 

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