Description

Bean ‘Scarlet Runner’ is also called ‘seven year bean’. It is the generic name, not a specific variety, of a South American heirloom which does best in cooler summers. It will need plenty of moisture and protection from the hot afternoon sun in western Sydney’s warm summers. This is a vigorous, short-lived perennial climber, which needs the support of a strong trellis or fence. It has pretty scarlet-red flowers and could be grown in an ornamental garden. Harvest the long, flat, young pods to use as crunchy green beans, or let the pods mature on the vine to store as dry beans. The dried beans are large, black speckled with purple along the outer edge. In western Sydney, this plant usually dies down over winter but will sprout again the following spring. In wet conditions or boggy soil, this bean could rot.
Scarlet Runner beans, including the specific variety ‘scarlet emperor’, are a different species from green (also called string or snap) beans and, therefore, cannot cross-pollinate with them. All Scarlet Runner varieties can, potentially, cross-pollinate each other.