Well....I've grown lots of different runners in my day but I can hardly believe the growth rate of these guys. Started the seed on the evening of May 27th and they are now over 4 feet up the trellis, talk about vigorous growers, I can also see the little bumps in the leaf axils where the flowers are forming. I can hardly wait for the first taste :).

As to the 4 Flamingo beans I planted the same way as I did the runners, they all did pop through at the same time.

Annette

Hi Annette
Rob from GArdeners Chat Shed here, AKA King Tommy.

I'm growing these for the first time this year and am very pleased with their rate of growth and vigour. Without going over-board, I would say that these are the tenderest and sweetest flavoured runners I have ever tasted. I took a maturing one to our local gastro pub (they have quite a lot of my unusual fruits and vege's) and Toby, the head chef, was astonished at how tender, for a large bean, they are, describing them as completely stringless with a slight hint of apple; no wonder he took all the 'normal' sized ones off me.

Hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

Thank you for your kind comments everyone!

I hope my Aeron Purple Star becomes a firm favourite with you. It's been a 'labour of love' and there's absolutely no commercial interests involved. The seeds are freely available from me (numbers are limited so it's a 'first come first served arrangement'). If you save (isolated) pure bred seeds then feel free to pass them on, the only stipulation that I make is that they are only shared on a free amateur basis & that you retain the name "AERON PURPLE STAR".

More info at: www.aeronvale-allotments.org.uk/aeronpurplestar .

I would welcome ALL feedback at www.gardenerschat-shed.net/forum

Thanks!

Here is a link that might be useful: CLICK HERE for more info on the Aeron Purple Star

This post was edited by Big_Gee on Wed, Jul 16, 14 at 8:58

Here is an image of the Aeron Purple Star bean seeds - no offense Annette your photo is great, but the colours are a tad out.

Well, great to 'see' you two here, stick around they're a great bunch on this forum.

Gee, picky, picky, picky LOL. I took the picture of your seed indoors under artificial light so the colour might look a little off but I will say it is a little different from the other runners I have with that purply colour pattern.
My Aeron Purple Stars are blooming their fool heads off right now but I expect the flowers will fall until the temperature drops a bit which is expected to do so this weekend. We've had some temps in the 90's this past week, not liking it much, in fact other than running out and dragging the hose around getting everything watered, I've been hiding in the house plunked in front of the telly watching the last season of 'Doc Martin'.

Rob, I'm so looking forward to growing 'District Nurse' (it was one of the ones I was still looking for) and your WSCTT's ( that's going to get a few people guessing :) Now, if I can find a few seeds of 'Bob and Mary' and Sarah's Old fashioned Black' I'll be a happy camper. Have a look at my list in this thread, these are the ones I'm growing this year and I'd rather send fresh seed in the fall than ones in my bean stash.
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/legumes/msg1210025124407.html?18

Annette

This post was edited by aftermidnight on Wed, Jul 16, 14 at 11:25

Ha ha - I'll forgive you Annette!

Thanks once again for the fresh supply of the Cherokee Trail of Tears. I hope they'll make it to maturity before the first frosts!

Another runner that will form beans in warmer weather? You bettcha. We've had temps up in the ninties this past week, a tad cooler at night but still.... I have been putting the sprinkler on them after supper for about 15 minutes to cool things down, triggering pollination, maybe. I've got beans :).
Hopefully next year when I'm growing more than the 4 plants that I am now, I'll have a few seeds to share this side of the pond. But, this will be only after I get the go ahead from Big Gee and only to those who are willing to abide by his wishes.
At this time he wants to keep them only in the hands of amateur growers and not sold for profit. So unfortunately I can't fill any requests until then :(.

Annette

I think our little heat wave is over, looking forward to more flowers and hopefully a few more beans. Being planted late and not in the best possible spot I am very pleased with what they are producing. Haven't tasted any yet as I've been leaving them all for seed. The beans in the pictures are just under 12" long, not as long as the ones grown on the other side of the pond but mine weren't grown in ideal conditions. Next year with better care I'm hoping they'll grow longer. Hopefully I'll have enough seed to share in the fall of 2015.
Annette

This is really tempting, especially as I have been on a purple podded kick recently. No rush on the seed though. I'm already behind on my runner bean grow outs, the next couple years will be spent replenishing old stock.

But then, if I break down & buy the seed storage freezer I've been planning, all bets are off. ;-)

Whenever you're ready to request a few bean seeds then just pop over to my Aeron Purple Star request page Zeedman.

Here is a link that might be useful: Aeron Purple Star request page

View the feedback & comments or post a comment yourself if you've had some bean seeds off me & grown them

Here is a link that might be useful: COMMENTS : FEEDBACK : REVIEWS

A little update, planted out Apr. 30, I now have beans on the Aeron Purple Stars, actually enough for a feed but want to leave these first ones for seed. This has been the hottest June I think we've ever had, the other day it was 90º F in my lath house which is in deep shade. 120º in the greenhouse and I didn't stick around to see what it was outside in the sun. It looks like this is another runner that will produce beans in hot weather. I have seen some flower drop but still there's also lots of small beans forming. I have flowers on a few of the other pole beans but the rest seem to be sulking in the high temps we're having. I think next week there will be more than enough Aeron Purple Stars for a feed, first fresh beans of the season :). If I'd only known I could have grown watermelon and cantaloupe this year.
Annette

"If I'd only known I could have grown watermelon and cantaloupe this year."

You could have grown LIMAS!!! :-0

Yancheng Bush & the bush Hyacinth bean must be loving the weather... you are warmer than I am this year. Tonight is supposed to get down to the 40's F., abnormally cool here for July.

Interesting to hear that Aeron Purple Star sets pods in hot weather... I hope I can arrange a trial here next year.

Zeedman if I had only known..... I could have also planted Black Jungle Butter Beans, I've grown these in the greenhouse twice, enough for a feed and save a few seeds, just the thought of having a whole trellis of these has my mouth watering.
I'm hating this heat, you think if next year I plant a bunch of limas our summer will return to normal, I really wouldn't mind sacrificing them if it would do the trick. So far the Yancheng Bush and Bush Hyacinth are looking good.
Don't be surprised if a little packet makes it down your way later on this year :).

Annette

Annette, did you get your beans from the original source in Wales (Big_Gee)? I wasn't sure about requesting any since they might not be allowed through. I've never grown runner beans before...I wonder how they would do in Saskatoon? My pole beans make it to about 8 feet most years...

Yes I got mine from Big Gee, absolutely not a problem with him sending to Canada. In fact I have done quite a few trades with a couple of people in the U.K. He does ask for a donation to cover postage but nothing for the beans themselves which I think is only fair.
We've had record breaking temperatures here, the APS's are holding up well, still popping out a few beans but they're not straight but slightly curled, when it was cooler they were straight. Flowering has slowed down but expect they will start up again if it ever cools down here :(. All in all it's a winner for me. How hot does your summer get? We've had lots of days in the 90's not the norm for here. I'd say mine are about 12 foot right now and still climbing. I usually go out and spritz them down with the hose once the sun's off them. This year I'm only growing 16 plants and getting lots of beans I've left the best pods for seed we're eating the rest.
If Gee runs out which he usually does, contact me in the fall and I'll see what I can do, I've already promised seed to several people so it all depends on how much seed I end up with.
Annette

Thanks for your reply, Annette. This has been a strange summer...hardly any rain and with the forest fires, the air quality hasn't been the best. I'm sure the light still comes through the haze of smoke - my garden is doing fantastic. It can get pretty hot...the forecast for the weekend says 30C. I appreciate your generous offer...will see in the Fall if you have any to spare. :)

We are in severe drought conditions here on Vancouver island, stage 2 watering restrictions are in place and I wouldn't be surprised that stage 3 are not far behind. We've had the driest 3 months in recorded history on Vancouver Island (1901) other than the rain last night no more relief in the near future.

As to the Aeron Purple Star's we've had a couple of feeds off them, very nice indeed, one of the best if not the best I've ever tasted. Started in the greenhouse Apr.19, planted out Apr. 27, I collected my first dried on the vine seed this morning Jul.24, lots of beans at different stages, drying down, another picking for the steamer, and I now see a few more flowers forming. They did give up flowering for a couple of weeks in this obscene hot weather we've been experiencing this summer but looks like they are back on track now. As I've left a lot of the pods for seed we'll eat whatever they produce from now on :).

Whoo Hoo we finally got some rain last night, the air smells so fresh and sweet after inhaling all that smoke from the smoke filled skies that have been plaguing us the last few weeks. Alas more drier than normal weather heading our way. Back to dragging hoses around until we're not allowed anymore, then it will be bucketing from my full rain barrels I keep for emergency watering, after that in desperation a rain dance?

Annette

Annette, I read elsewhere that you are growing Aeron Purple Star again this year. 2015 was good to me, I'm (temporarily) caught up on my runner bean grow outs. If you have any seed to spare, I'd love to try them this year... just send me a PM, and let me know anything you might want in trade.

Zeedman PM sent.

Annette

I am also adding Aeron Purple Star Runner to my bean mix this year. Since it's thee only known purple podded runner bean it should be pretty interesting.

Hi, I love growing runners but get very few beans in los Angeles. Trying to find runners that will set in heat. Where can I find this purple one?

Mavens, your best bet for a runner that will stand a bit of heat is Insuk's Wang Kong, Aeron Purple Star is another runner that likes a cooler climate although last summer we had some very high temps and I still had a fairly decent harvest.

As to where do you find this purple podded one, it is not sold commercially and the fellow who bred this runner is hoping it stays in the hands of amateur growers, not sold for profit. Not too many people on this side of the pond are growing it yet so finding seed would not be easy. I have given most of my spare seed away but if you PM me your address I'll see what I can do. I should have more seed to share in the fall all going well.

Annette

Annette, that would be great, I'll send the pm. Thanks

Just an update. I started Aeron Purple Star in pots this year (thanks Annette for the seeds!) and all germinated. They were transplanted June 8th, so I have 22 plants in the ground & doing well. I will post further updates & photos as the plants develop.

Zeedman, good to hear they are doing well, each year I get a few vines with green pods but have only kept seed from the purple ones, mind you the green pods are just as good eating. The purple doesn't show up right away if it did it would be so much easier to rogue out the vines producing the green ones. Mine are just starting to flower and I have the vines planted further apart this year, the plan is to pull any vines that are just producing the greenies.This has been my favorite runner to eat as a green bean, usually frenched before steaming. I'm going to have to miss out on growing this one next year as I need to renew my Gigandes seed, we've eaten most of them. Plaki is just too darn tasty :).

Annette

Yeah, if there are green pods, it will be hard to rogue those plants out before they have crossed with others. You can't bag the blossoms, because they need pollination to set seed - or at least that is the conventional wisdom. I may try it anyway, tripping a few of the flowers on each plant by hand, in hopes of isolating the all-purple. It could save years of time if successful.

Cleaning up crossed runner beans takes persistence, but it can be done. I was finally successful last year in eliminating an impurity from Tucomares Chocolate, after four generations.

In my rural plot, I hope to grow Bianco de Spagna this year - if I can break the curse. They have failed in two previous attempts, but fortunately Drloyd sent enough seed for one more try. The seedlings are strong... but that plot has yet to dry out enough to allow planting. Transplants for a lima, 9 beans, and 5 cowpeas are also waiting; I hope the dry spell arrives soon (major thunderstorm passing through as I write this).

Just had our second feed of these tonight, tender, stringless and the pods have a sweetness to them I haven't experienced in other beans. We only eat the young pods I don't use the dried beans so I'll be waiting to hear if they keep that sweetness and how they compare to the black Insuk's Wang Kong.

Zeedman, the pods on the APS I'm growing this year are from a difference source, he grows them in total isolation in Devon and then sends seed on to Gwilym to help fill his orders, so far no green pods :). Hopefully you aren't getting too many green pods from the seed I sent you, I'll pop a few more in the mail from this lot once they dry down. All the APS pods so far have been that gorgeous dark chocolaty purple.

Annette

Only a few pods set on mine so far, and it has been so hot I'm amazed to see any at all. Those few are probably too small yet to observe color. The vines are fairly healthy, but they are obviously struggling in the heat. Bianco de Spagna does not look much better (and was transplanted much later) but both are flowering, so I am cautiously optimistic. All I need now is a brief cool spell.

BTW, it seems to me that while the open flowers of APS are typical scarlet, the buds are much darker red than other red-flowered runners I've grown. Since the deep red is consistent throughout the row, I hope that color is indicative of the purple-podded trait.

All of my other beans went in late, and although they were in the pots too long, all are recovering. That is remarkable in itself, if you saw the state they were in at the time of transplanting... most of the first runners fell over & died. This may turn out to be a blessing, since there are multiple main runners forming now.

It turns out that 5 pods of APS managed to set in the heat, each on a different plant. All of them are purple. The temps cooled down slightly for 3 days, and a lot of new pods set. Another cool(er) period coming in a few days, I'm optimistic that more will set then as well.

Zeedman, glad to hear you're getting purple pods, mine are really producing now, still no green pods and these are the darkest purple I've ever had. This year we've been eating them but I'm keeping the longest pods for seed. I had a few curled pods earlier on when it got hot and I didn't give them enough water but they are back on track again producing long straight pods :).

Although I have a lot of plants, I'm not sure whether I will be eating many beans. It depends upon how many pods set in time to produce dry seed. The vines are not especially vigorous, much less so than the IWK I grew in the same plot in 2014. Not sure if the relatively low vigor is a trait of the variety, since most of my beans are under-performing this year. Still plenty of growing season left, so time will tell. At the very least, I will be able to harvest a lot of pods just before frost.

It looks like all of my APS's are producing deep purple pods so I'll send you some seed from this lot later on, this seed came from a grower in a different part of the UK.

Annette

Just checking to see if anyone has received their seeds, I ordered a while back, I knew that they were on backorder. I was told they would ship in late fall. Let me know if you have heard anything new

PcolaGrower, were you getting them from the UK? If so and you managed to get your request in before ALL this year's Aeron Purple Star was promised it just might be they haven't been mailed out yet. He did say they would be mailed out some time between the end of October-middle of November. I know it takes about two weeks to get packages from the UK to me here in Canada and sometimes they are held up in customs. I know he's out of stock now until next fall's harvest. Anyone requesting them now will be put on his list for 2017.

Annette

Had a pleasant surprise today. Last Friday it finally froze here, so I began taking down some of my bean trellises at home (the rural garden is still too muddy to walk in). As I took down the trellis for APS, I pulled up one of the plants - and it had a 1.5" bulb attached! I've read several accounts online of pulling & wintering over runner bean rootstocks, but never observed any root enlargement until now. The plants have apparently taken advantage of this year's extended growing season.

This is a great opportunity to try wintering over the roots indoors. Given that the plants had an extra 6 weeks to grow - with a corresponding reduction (hopefully) in the time they will be indoors - some of the roots might survive. I'll watch them closely, and attempt to sprout the roots indoors if they appear to be deteriorating. If anyone here has been successful doing this, any helpful storage tips would be appreciated.

Since I know which plants were purple podded, I will save only those roots. If successful, those plants should produce pure seed.

Finally overcame a problem with my photo sharing site. These are the roots I dug up:

Wow, those are some large roots I wonder if this is a trait of this particular runner, I'm going to link this thread in The gardener's Chat-Shed, maybe Gee will respond. I have never tried to store runner roots overwinter, to late for me as we've had so much rain the roots on mine have probably rotted by now.

Annette

Hi Annette et al !

Would have come come back sooner, but my old username/ password didn't work for some reason (probably because I'm an infrequent visitor) - ah well, no probs, I've just had to sign up again with a new profile.

Anyway, runner beans. As some of you already know, but many gardeners are astonished to discover, they are actually perennials, although grown as an annual by almost all gardeners in less temperate zones. A few reasons for that.

Firstly, they REALLY don't like frost, so if left in frosty ground, that'll be the end of them (it's a different story in South America - which is their native home).

Secondly, they lose their vigour and cropping quality as a rule. Their first year of life is their most productive, and although they can be grown on every year - they never seem to have the same vigour, and crops tend to be lighter and of poorer quality.

I have saved the roots of my Aeron Purple Star beans in the past - as an experiment - but with limited success for the reasons quoted above. Also a factor could be that they don't like being lifted and then stored and started off again in the following spring, thereby reducing their vigour. In their native habitat this does not happen, as growing in a frost-free environment their roots are not disturbed by the lifting process.

That's my tuppence-worth. I still have a few of my Aeron Purple Star seeds available for sharing, but hurry, because I'm down at the bottom of the pile for this season. I've had less than usual to share, because Poppa Tommo (Rob) who grows the bulk of them in isolation for me, had a little run-in with the neighbourhood 'Brer Rabbit' population! More about that in my GARDENERS CHAT SHED forum . . . .

Yep - this year we have had a real rabbit problem. After two 'just when you think you've built the final barrier' attempts I managed to keep the buggers out at the third attempt. This resulted in a late and greatly reduced seed stock. I only managed to produce about 650 seeds, which is less than a quarter of the amount I send to Big Gee. Usually I keep that amount for myself as I grow and sell 6 cell trays in the late spring. Next year I have only kept 40 for my seed stock and non to grow on and sell. I have, though kept the very best, slimline, deep, deep purple ones.

I know that Big Gee has had a lot of request so if you want some get your orders in early.

On the over wintering of the roots/tubers: I have tried this a couple of time (with tomatoes too) with limited success. Any APS that made it ( and you really have to mollycoddle them, even more than dahlias ) didn't have vigour and, compared to the freshly seeded ones next to them, really were not worth the effort. Plus, having to absolutely guarantee a frost free environment is so much more complicated than simply popping a seed into a 3" pot in the spring.

With the tomatoes, which are also perennial, I left them in the ground, double fleeced them with a large plastic bell jar and monitored them for sign of growth. They didn't do too badly as, with tomatoes, you can lay-root them which then produces a new, vigorous plant.

Honestly, though, I did it more out of curiosity than a serious mode of propagation. Seeds are so much easier.

Big G, how does one contact you through enail? It seems u do not have it on your profile page? Would love to grow your bean. I have many things to trade. Thanks.

Dale

I forgot about this thread, did they get more seed, I was waiting still.

Hi 'thepodpiper',

Here's the URL address for the page to request my bean seeds:

http://aeronvale-allotments.org.uk/aeronpurplestar

I've still got a small number left for sharing for next season.

Hi PcolaGrower

Yes, the core seeds are grown every year in isolation - to keep them pure.

When you say "I was waiting still" do you mean you have requested beans but didn't get my reply? Or were you waiting for me to announce on here that they were available?.

If you need a small quantity please use the link I posted in the above post.

Ok thepodpiper

i see Big Gee has beaten me to it but spaced repetition is a great thing (once a teacher always a teacher)

so here it is

http://aeronvale-allotments.org.uk/aeronpurplestar/

http://aeronvale-allotments.org.uk/aeronpurplestar/

http://aeronvale-allotments.org.uk/aeronpurplestar/

Get your orders in quick...with much perseverance and many airgun pellets I managed to outdo the pesky wabbits and get only 650 pure APS seeds to my mate Big Gee this year.

Growing APS again this year, as a seed crop. The 2016 attempt, while producing a lot of seed, had some green-podded plants... and I try to avoid sharing impure seed. It was my hope to replant only the roots of the plants with all-purple pods, but none survived the winter.

This year's attempt is from fresh seed (sent to me by Annette) and all pods are purple. The first pods have begun to dry down now. I'm fascinated by the length of the pods, most are 6-7 inches long (wish I could post a photo). :-( I know long pods are not unusual for those in cooler climes, but all of the runner beans I've grown thus far formed short pods in my warm-summer climate. All 16 plants are loaded, and it should be several weeks yet before frost... so barring misfortune (knock knock) I should have a lot of seed this Fall.

How are you using these beans, zeedman? Runners are usually eaten as green beans here and all the photos show beans which I would consider past the point where I'd harvest them for that purpose. Are you using them as 'shellies'? I've never come across anyone eating them like that here. Do they taste good? How do you cook them?

You're right that a six inch pod is quite short for runner bean in our climate. These are Streamline.

Regarding roots. They sometimes survive in the ground here but are always later than seed sown plants ime. That is without protection. More would probably overwinter if covered in some way. In the ground they remain moist so I wondered if you'll tried keeping them in pots if damp medium in a cold but not freezing spot?

That should read 'you'd tried keeping...' Edit function is not working.

Been a few days since I checked the forums...

"In the ground they remain moist so I wondered if you'd tried keeping
them in pots if damp medium in a cold but not freezing spot?"

No, I packed the roots in freezer bags filled with hamster bedding & added just enough water to moisten the medium. That method has worked well to over-winter other bulbs. I had considered transplanting the roots into pots, but the roots spread so much that damage is unavoidable during lifting, so I doubt the results would be any better. Had Annette not sent me fresh seed, and had Big_gee stopped offering, I might have tried it.

"Runners are usually eaten as green beans here and all the photos show
beans which I would consider past the point where I'd harvest them for
that purpose."

The purple color develops late, at its darkest when the pods have swollen. The mature pods are nearly black now. When the pods reached snap stage in my garden, they were green, or just lightly blushed with purple.

Floral_uk, those are really beautiful beans. If I could get pods like that, I would probably eat more runner beans as snaps... but in my climate, the "French" beans are much more productive. I still eat a few runner bean snaps late in the season. For the most part, though, I eat runner beans as shellies. Some are better for that purpose than others, Gigandes & Insuk's Wang Kong are my favorites. I'll be testing some APS that way when frost approaches... which apparently will be later than usual this year.