PURPLE HYACINTH BEAN

 

Several years ago a friend gave me three bean pods from this plant that she had gotten from a friend of hers in Arkansas.  I had never seen any of these vines or even heard of them until then.  I put the three pods on the counter in my wash room to save until spring when I could put them in the ground.  Somehow all but one of the bean pods got misplaced during the winter but thankfully I found the one that was left that had fallen into a drawer. 

When spring came around I took the beans out of the pod and planted them in a sunny spot where they could grow on the fence.  They did come up and now I save several of the pods to plant each spring. 

These vines start off slowly but once the weather starts getting warmer they take a growing spurt and you can almost see them growing daily.  They  don't start blooming until August in my yard and by September they are in full bloom.  The flowers would remind you of sweet peas but they don't have that sweet scent.  After the blooms start falling the pods begin to form and they are really beautiful.  They love full sun and some water.  Thomas Jefferson planted them in his gardens and therefore some people refer to them as Jefferson Beans. 

My vines mingle with the red cypress vines and blue morning glory vines that climb on the fence.  I save several of the pods just to make sure I have some the next year but they usually come up voluntarily.  The beans are edible but have to be cooked a certain way because they are poisonous. They look real pretty in flower arrangements when added to other cut flowers or sometimes just by themselves.

Plant, Watch, but Don't Eat !!!