$60 that it? I wish I could contain myself to that amount. I have 2 seed orders and both are in excess of that and that is before the other supplies LOL

A Wishful Thinking,

SCG

Every year it gets more expensive. I had some leftover seed from last year, so it wasn't that bad this year. I do still have to buy supplies, like SCG.

I'm still looking for a good Sunflower seed and a Scarlet Runner Bean for hummers, and then I'm done.

I DO have leftover seed that I'm using, and its still $60!

Haha mxk3 I have enough seeds that I wouldn't have to buy for 5-10 years and I still spent $200 or so this year on seeds alone.

Prairiemoon2 I love scarlet runner beans, can't seem to ever have enough of them.

SCG

SCG - I haven't tried them before. I keep trying to attract hummers and putting out the feeders didn't work the one time I tried it. I have honeysuckle and other plants I put in for them but nada. Last year I was looking out my kitchen window and I saw one small tiny little hummingbird, checking out my pole beans. Very exciting, but just that one visit and nothing more. So I want to use the SRBean on an old screen house frame that's over a sitting area, this year. I would love to get regular visits from hummers. -- PM2

A trick I have heard work for few people was to put a colourful flag up. Not sure why but it attracts them and the higher the better. I am fortunate to have lots of hummers around the area. My property is in the middle of forest so I have a little harder time getting the birds but usually get a couple pairs stay for the year.

SCG

Never heard that one, I'll have to give the flag a try. Hummers have to be so much fun.

I got a serious amount of seed that I'm using up this year- hubby put his foot down and said I have to use up at least some of what I got before I get to buy anymore, lol. But I did sneak in a couple bucks worth of seeds when a local shop had them 11/$1.00, and did a whopping $10.00 order of veggie seed, heh. And right now I'm at $10.00 for seed starting soil, with maybe another 10 to come.

So I feel like I'm doing pretty good this year by not being overly tempted by the seed companies. And I'm thankful for GW trades for making that part possible.

The economy finally caught up with me and bite me in the butt! This season was the least I ever bought in seeds. Good thing is I had way too many from the start. I even found some seeds I purchased twice. Now I'm going to buy a mini greenhouse and some trellis material and I'll be done.

I just happen to have a hummingbird pic (or 2 or 3) with scarlet runner beans. This was last year; I plan to plant even more of them this year.
As for seeds bought, I am trying to keep it down. I've already spent around $55 for plants - an extravagance for me to spend on plants (though that's about standard if it was seeds) - and more than half of that was for just one rose. But this year, I have so much saved seed, and especially all the saved zinnia crosses - thank you, zenman for your inspiration - that I may not order much else. Well...maybe just a couple more packets. :)
- Alex

Haha thanks samhain10 I was going to post a photo too but I tend to hijack too many threads as it is.

I don't count roses as part of my seed budget....LOL or I would be screwed although this year I am down to a mere 17 on order.

SCG

Great photo, Alex! That vine looks very healthy and that hummingbird looks large for a hummer. I wonder are there different varieties of Scarlet Runner Bean? I've seen photos where the flower looks orange rather than red and I was really hoping for a red.

Last year, I hardly bought a thing. A small order of roses from Pickering and one seed order from FEDCO and that was it. So, I give myself permission this year to buy more plants and more seed. [g] I'm looking forward to seeing how the bare root roses planted last year, do in their second year.

I'd say most scarlet runners I've seen are orange-y red, but I think you'd be satisfied with their "red-ness". And they grow like crazy - super fast! Which is a reminder to me that if I want them in the fall as well as summer, I'll need to plant succession crops - otherwise they set beans and the floral display is over.

Thanks Alex, I'll make sure I pick up a couple of packages so I can do that too. I wouldn't have thought of succession planting, good idea. They produce beans, right? Have you tried eating them? I heard from another member that they eat them and also save dry beans and use them in cooking.

I agree the color is more orange-y red than a pure red. I don't do succession planting with them as I haven't found they set enough pods that it is an issue picking them off. Sometimes it is fun getting to where they grow!

SCG

I think maybe a long time ago, I tried eating them, but didn't much care for them. Probably why I stopped growing them until a few years back when I was reminded how pretty they were. The seeds themselves are gorgeous purple and black. They look nice in a jar on the shelf. :-)
- Alex

Well, I guess I won't be replacing my pole beans just yet, then. [g]

SCG, I assume you meant yours grows high and it's not easy reaching the pods?

Which brand of seed did you both purchase?

Has anyone tried growing a scarlet runner bean up a Sunflower stalk? :-)

I don't like the taste of them either.

Yes, I have them grow up some hard to reach places. They will go over 20ft if you provide structure for them.

I don't know the brand, I save seeds each year.

You can go up a Sunflower BUT they outgrow the Sunflower so you need to plant them much later. I find sweet peas a better match.

SCG

20 feet? Wow….I will have some fun with that.

Now I don't know which I am looking forward to more, the Sunflower or the SRBean.

Thanks… :-)

prairiemoon2 I am bad at taking photos of my gardens even with photography as my other hobby so can't show you photo's. If you take a rope or something and get a ladder and put it way up in a tree you can get the beans to climb...once and a while you have to 'help' them.

I use rebar tie wire that I twist together with a drill. It is hard to see making the beans look like they are climbing for the sky.

SCG

Are Runner Bean and Stringer Bean the same? A master gardener friend of mine gave me Scarlet Stringer Bean last spring and I got one to grow and retireved some seeds from it, and my Google Image search seems to show the same type of seed for both, so I was just curious. I grew mine in a pot so I could baby it, but it grew pretty high and wrapped itself around my hanging basket, and then I looped it back down the small trellis I had it on.

prairiemoon2 - my seeds were also saved seeds from some friends' garden, so can't give you any history. As to growing them up sunflowers, that's the reason I started growing them again in 2013, because I was making a Sunflower House! I made a 2nd house this past summer as well - both are photo-documented in the Gardening with Kids forum, if you're interested. You can see the scarlet runner beans in some of the pics.
Lady Alicia - hadn't ever heard runner beans called stringer beans, but I'd bet it's the same since many people grow them up strings. Plus they're kind of stringy themselves. :-)
- Alex

Thanks, Alex. I should have taken a picture of the one I had, but it was only one vine and mixed in with my other plants, vining all over them, so the picture wouldn't have been very depictive anyway. :) Maybe this year I can get really good pictures since I have more seeds to plant. Hope I can get lots of seeds to share next fall/winter. I'll have to research it a little more. I'd ask my master gardener friend who gave them to me, but someone had given them to her, so she wasn't sure about them. Nothing like a mystery to solve.

Alex's Sunflower House

Thanks Alex, great documentation. I hope your kids really enjoyed it. I didn't even know there was a Gardening with Kids forum. Quite a bit of wild life your house attracted. Thanks for sharing that.

Prairiemoon2 - it was a blast! I've got plans this year for making a sunflower pathway through the garden. I saw one of these last autumn at a Big Boy Restaurant of all places, and it was enchanting. One of the most original landscaping jobs I'd ever seen at a generic chain-restaurant.

That sounds like fun too. I hope you will document that with photos. :-) I have a small property, less than a 1/4 acre and 3/4 of it is part sun. Only a small front yard has full sun, so I envy you the room and sunshine to try all these sunflower ideas!

Prairiemoon2 - oh, most definitely! I am going to have great fun taking loads of pics from the beginning to the end. I indulged myself as well buying 2 strings of solar morning glory lights, so that even at night, the beginning of the path will be visible. Fun, huh?
Whaddaya mean? 1/4 acre is plenty of space to do something creative with sunflowers. :)
- Alex

I look forward to your new Sunflower project photos. :-) With lights no less! lol

Well…sure, 1/4 acre is large enough, I just don't have the sun. Lots of trees surround my property and I have lots of full shade, and part shade, 3-4 hrs of sun a day, and very little full sun. But I'm still going to fit in a few sunflowers. Just growing them healthy and straight will be enough of a project for me this year. :-)

I wish I had 1/4 of an acre! :-) One can dream....