Are you sure that those cow peas are hybrids? I see them available at Baker Creek and I don't believe they sell any hybrids. Not many beans if any are hybrid.

IIRC contender blooms are purple so I guess it's possible that there might be some in your patch.

Concur. Baker creek use to carry them and has reviews. Note that a bean plant P. vulgaris or P. coccineus has an entirely different plant than a cowpea. No chance of confusing Contender with any cowpea. "Heirloom" seeds are often mixed varieties or have other varieties inadvertently mixed in. I have found pumpkins mixed in watermelon seeds and it is a lot easier to mix peas or beans. I am not familiar with that particular variety, but cowpeas do have a variety of blossom colors altho a color is usually consistent for a single variety. No hybrids available in either species. Too difficult to mass produce hybrid seeds.

I couldn't remember if the contender was yellow or purple, but I knew they weren't white. I guess the cowpeas are yellow. Good to hear they are heirlooms. I wonder what the white one is? This is going to be an interesting harvest. The cowpeas and the pigeon peas look a lot alike, so that could be how they got mixed in.