There are many runner beans. Many have red beans (often referred to as "Scarlet Runner Bean") but others have white or black ones. The white one have white beans and white blossoms. Many of the scarlet runner beans have gorgeous red or red-and-white flowers (the one with bi-colored flowers is often sold as "Painted Lady"). I grow some Scarlet Runner Beans every year for the hummingbirds because they enjoy the flowers so much. Some scarlet runner beans have seeds that are red and others have seeds that are a light burgundy with darker splotches. If your bean seed meets either of those descriptions, you probably have scarlet runner beans. If you beans were solid black, you'd have seeds of the black runner bean.

Because I grow so many different kinds of heirloom and hybrid beans every year for our consumption, I grow the scarlet runners and the equally gorgeous purple hyacinth beans strictly for ornamental purposes although both can be eaten. I don't particularly care for either of these two as an edible, but some people like them.

You grow runner beans the same way you grow any other bean, except that they prefer cool weather. So, if you are eager to plant beans early in the spring, you can start your runner beans then because they are a little more cold hardy than most beans and can withstand an occasional cold night near freezing. They are daylength sensitive (George taught me that!) so they won't flower and set seed until the right daylength arrives, though, no matter how early you planted them.

Because most runner beans prefer cooler weather, they tend not to produce quite as well in our heat as most other beans. However, if you can keep the pests and diseases from getting the plants and you can keep them going into fall, they'll produce pretty well in fall's cooler weather.

If I was going to grow a runner bean for eating, I'd probably choose Chaco Canyon or Aztec, but you won't know if you like the taste and texture of scarlet runner beans until you try them yourself.

Growing runner beans alongside your standard pole or bush beans doesn't present a problem because they are Phaseolus coccineus and they do not cross with any other bean species. However, two types of runner beans will cross with one another.

Please note that runner beans are the oddballs of the bean family. Whereas most pole beans twine counterclockwise (if viewed from above), runner beans are backwards and twine clockwise. So, if you are trying to train the very young beans to climb a pole, be sure you train runners the right way of they'll have problems.

Happy Growing,

Dawn