purple pod beans!!! I love these and you just don't see them all that much. So pretty, and so tasty!

Purple Hyacinth Bean vine....love it!! Didn't know they were edible.

In this box space we have what I call my "rainbow bush beans mix" :)

Blue Lake 274
Royal Burgandy
Super Wax/Cherokee Wax

zzini,

we tasted a 3" long one today, still needs some time, but my girl is the impatient one in the garden, she wanted to "try it" while it was growing LOL

I love the color of the leaves and flowers on this bush bean, it's a great contrast with the Cherokee Wax/Super Wax that's in there too.

marymcp,

these are Royal Burgundy Bush Beans (Phaseolus vugaris). They are edible, turn green and lose color when cooked/steamed :) But they are a very pretty bush bean.

Oh thanks for the clarification....looks alot like purple hyacinth.

Very nice! Thanks for the pic and the variety information. Mary, they really do sort of look like purple hyacinth bean, don't they? Those are edible by the way, but not very tasty in my opinion. Mangled, these look really nice! The only beans I'm doing are mung beans and they're just about ready to harvest (dry beans).

Keep the fun pics and updates coming,
Grant

Mangled-

I'm planning on planting a bush bean trio (purple, yellow & green) for the fall. Any suggestions of when to sow them? Just thought you might know.

az_pamperedchef,

That trio I believe is the same or close to the rainbow trio we planted. I couldn't find the package after sowing the seeds. But did find a similar trio in a variety/starter pack we pulled lettuce and cukes out to sow.

The next planting schedule is:

According to UofA coop ext*: July 15 - 2nd week in Sept.
*note: I think their info is based on AZ region 3, which covers 2000-3000 foot elevations.

Arizona Master Gardeners manual: August 1 - Sept 1

We are putting ours in the ground starting the last week in July and spacing them out about a week and a half apart until 2nd week in Sept.

Mangled,
Do you sow your seeds directly into the soil or start them indoors? I have had no luck with tomato seed started inside, so I'm a little hesitate with the beans. I'd love to start my 'maters for the fall indoors right now, but I don't have the fancy lights and heating pad & such. How do you do it?

AZ PC

AZ PC,

We direct sow all our seeds. To date, we have had ZERO luck in any of our "experiments" in indoor starts. All our tomato seeds were leggy about 3" tall and after a few days just toppled over and died.

We are direct sowing some Campari seeds in a large planter in the shade of our Ficus out back. I'm hoping we have better luck with these than with the indoor starting. I gotta find a book or website that covers indoor starts from beginning to end for we desert gardeners.

mangled, when they are leggy like that it usually means they need light. A flourescent, very close to the seedling start, on a heat mat, bottom water with diluted cammomile tea made with filtered water (like from the self-serve stations at grocery stores. Also some air flow, a ceiling fan or small desktop fan is usually enough. I have lots of experience and am nearly always successful. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks Mary,

I would really like to have starts indoors. And could use some help.

Gonna check Craigslist for some flourescent light fixtures. Is there a "special bulb" that we would need?

Got the ceiling fan in all rooms of our home.

Will our reverse osmosis system water work?

What type of soil? Will those peat pot type kits from the hardware stores work?

I have never had good luck with peat pots. I use the Bio-Dome from Park Seed Co.

Re: the type of flourescent tube.....I picked up a small light fixture from the hydroponic store here, Sea of Green. It's small and lightweight so perfect for the new seedlings, if there's only a few. When I do a bunch we have a 'shop light' which has two tubes. One is the cool spectrum and one is warm (blue; red)

We rigged a pvc thingy to suspend the light from. When I have time I'll look for a pic and post. Gotta run now. Hope this info is helpful. Others will pop in as well. Lots of knowledge on this board.

RO water is perfect if you have that at home no need to purchase from the store.

Here is a link that might be useful: Park Seed Bio Dome