Bean climbs into royal family
September 17, 2009
Special to the Star
Runner bean Wisley Magic Phaseolus vulgaris
They aren't kidding about that word "magic." This is simply the best green bean to grow. It's easy, prolific, tastes great and does fine in our summers. And how colourful its scarlet flowers are.
In fact, folks, skip the bush beans our grandparents habitually grew and go for these, instead. They're far more suited to today's urban lifestyles. In a tight space, you can train runners up a fence or over an ugly garage.
The beans don't get attacked by slugs (they develop too high off the ground for the slimeballs to reach) and there's no kneeling down and scrabbling around in piles of leaves, searching for ripe pods.
I experimented with four different kinds of climbing beans this summer and Wisley Magic was the hands-down winner. Developed in the U.K., it's won a fistful of awards and is now in the Royal Horticultural Society's Bicentenary Plant Collection. Gardening accolades don't get better than that.
The only drawback to wonderful Wisley is that takes longer to mature than other beans – up to 100 days. But trust me, it's worth the wait.
For sources, go to my website, soniaday.com.