A Central American native that was popularized by the great 18th-century English garden writer, Philip Miller, Scarlet Runner Bean is still very popular in Europe for its edible beans. Thomas Jefferson planted this lovely annual vine with it's showy scarlet flowers in 1812, noting: "Arbor beans white, crimson, scarlet, purple...on long walk of garden." In 1806 the Philadelphia nurseryman Bernard McMahon wrote that it was grown in America exclusively as an ornamental. Scarlet Runner Beans are attractive to hummingbirds.Direct sow the large, mottled reddish-purple seeds in well-drained garden soil after the last frost. Scarlet Runner Beans (Phaseolus coccineus) vines grow best on a trellis, arbor, fence, or bean poles. Scarlet runner beans may be harvested and eaten when young and tender. Approximately 12 seeds per packet.
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