Focus on... Runner beans

Few crops are as prolific or as pretty as the keen runner bean. Lucy Chamberlain shows you how to cultivate your own kitchen-garden classic for months of flavour

- Lucy Chamberlain

Phaseolus coccineus ‘Firestorm' is a striking ornamental and a prolific cropper, yielding plenty of tasty stringless beans

AN annual feature on any vegetable plot, runner beans can be sown now and are Tutterly delicious when the pods are picked at a young and tender age. The pitfalls are easy to avoid if you know how, so let me divulge how to ensure a summer full of beans!

White-flowered hybrid ‘Moonlight' is a cross between a runner and a French bean

Better beans on the scene

Plant breeders have done gardeners proud in recent years. While older varieties flowered late in the summer, modern types develop earlier blooms due to boffins adjusting the bean's sensitivity to day length. Drought resistance is improving, too. Red-flowered varieties were once shallow-rooted compared with their white-flowered counterparts, but breeding has now blurred the boundaries.

Dwarf runners growing in pots with chipped bark mulch to prevent loss of moisture

By far the most exciting development has been the crossing of runner and French beans. This British-led breeding programme has introduced some real positives in recent years, such as 'Moonlight' and 'Stardust' (both white-flowered). Improved drought resistance, reduced pod stringiness and better pod set in temperature extremes (due primarily to self-fertile flowers) are all helping gardeners to produce a better quality runner bean.

Hybrid runners like 'Hestia' produce reduced pod stringiness and improved pod set

Top Tip

You can reduce the number of stringy pods by choosing modern self-fertile varieties, watering frequently and thoroughly, and picking beans while young and tender.

Growing the best beans