Native to mountainous Central America where they are pollinated by hummingbirds, these are a cooler weather bean that have adapted well to our precarious early summer in the South Island. These are the BEST bean to grow. They are what got me back into gardening thirty years ago when, as a working mother of little children there was little time for gardening yet the scarlet runners kept coming back year after year with no help from me at all. They are also called the ‘seven-year bean’ for this reason, growing big tubers under the ground that sprout year after year in early spring – in central America these tubers are eaten. The beans can be dried and stored – indeed there is a variety of runner bean grown in Greece under PGE protection called Gigantes, or elephant bean, that is grown for its large white dried bean and traditionally cooked in a tomato sauce. (I’d love to grow these but can’t find any seed in NZ so if anyone out there knows of a source please let me know). Scarlet runners flower and fruit for up to 4 months from late December to March , compared to dwarf bush beans that are over in a matter of three or four weeks. They produce best with regular feeding. I love their meaty, juicy texture and sweet flavour.

I was astounded to learn that in North America these are only grown as an ornamental plant in flower gardens!

One last piece of fascinating random scarlet runner info: runner beans twine clockwise as they climb while other bean varieties twine counter-clockwise.