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Garden

Beans talk

Nutrition and beauty are the winning combination harvested by gardeners who plant decorative, delicious beans, a gift to the eye and the appetite.

By JOHN A. STARNES JR.
Published April 23, 2005

[Photo: John A. Starnes Jr.]

The vine of the scarlet runner bean makes an attractive mantle for a mailbox or fence. The beans and leaves are tasty in salads.

	The yardlong bean, a staple of Chinese cooking, is a relative of the black-eyed pea and thrives in Florida’s muggy summer.
	Though the purple-pod hyacinth is edible, this green-pod hyacinth bean tastes better and grows more luxuriantly.

Beans, beans, they're good for your heart. The more you eat, the more "art" in your yard. I'm not talking pinto or navy, but beautiful flowering exotic tropical beans that grow like crazy in this area from spring into fall. Their lush vines boast a blend of blooms and protein-rich bean pods for bouquets and the dinner plate. All they need is full sun, soil enriched with dog food nuggets and a fence you would love to see transformed into a flowering trellis.

Remember the scarlet runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus) from our grandma's flower gardens? A white mailbox looks charming swathed in those emerald leaves and ruby blooms. Chop them into salads and stir-fry for a taste and texture you can't buy in the produce market; and those crisp red blooms add a sweet surprise. Look for them in the garden flowers section of seed displays.

The yardlong bean (Vigna sesquipedalis) is a staple of Chinese cooking. This relative of the black-eyed pea thrives in our muggy summer. Expect the lovely orchidlike flowers to quickly transform into bean pods up to 3 feet long, though they are best picked when a foot long and sweetly tender. Easy, and therefore great for kids to grow, they also provide leaves that taste excellent when chopped into soups or stir-fried for extra fiber, bright green color and added nutrition. Look for them in Asian vegetable seed displays.

Want to freak out friends, neighbors, passers-by and dinner guests?

Grow African jack beans (Canavalia ensiformis) and watch jaws drop when monstrous bean pods form. I use mine in soups and stir-fry (pods and all). No need to shuck them.

Prized in Filipino cuisine, the green-pod hyacinth bean (Dolichos lablab) is tastier and grows more luxuriantly than the equally edible purple-pod kind sold in flower seed racks. Look for them online or in the seed display in an Asian market.

By summer you can pick the flat green pods and remove the beans (they taste much like edamame soybeans when cooked). Allowed to ripen and dry on the vines, the tan pods can be shattered to release beautiful black seeds, which can be cooked like any dried bean. In addition to the culinary benefits, all summer long I treat myself to petite bouquets of the long-stemmed lavender blooms.

All the beans mentioned above are easy to grow; scatter dog food nuggets all along a fence, turn the soil under, then plant one seed every 2 feet or so; water deeply each week until the summer rains kick in. Then jump back, out of their way.

John A. Starnes Jr., born in Key West, is an avid organic gardener and rosarian who studies, collects, cultivates and hybridizes roses for Florida. He can be reached at johnastarnes@msn.com

Echonet: 239 543-3246; www.echonet.org

Evergreen seeds: 714 637-5769; www.evergreenseeds.com

[Last modified April 22, 2005, 08:41:05]