Bean (runner) 'Red Rum' Phaseolus coccineus 'Red Rum'

ABOUT
'Red Rum' has red flowers followed by tasty, straight, smooth, fleshy pods, on average about 22cm long and 1.5cm wide when picked, and stringless when young, and if seeds are allowed to develop they are pink mottled with black; its flowers will set even at fairly high temperatures, it crops early, and gives a high yield. Runner beans, Phaseolus coccineus, are nitrogen-fixing herbaceous perennials, usually grown as annuals, which climb by twining stems up to 4m high, with leaves divided into three ovate to heart-shaped green leaflets up to 15cm long, and racemes of many white, pink, red, or two-tone flowers, up to 3cm long, from midsummer, which are pollinated by bees and followed by edible seedpods from late summer until the first frosts.
About this plant
Names
Family
Fabaceae
Synonyms
bean (runner) 'Red Rum'
Characteristics
Foliage type
Deciduous
Height
2.5-4 metres
Spread
0.1-0.5 metres
Hardiness zones
H2
Light
Full Sun
Pruning
No pruning required
Soil
SoilChalk, Clay, Loam, Sand
Suitable locations
Hardiness zone
Flower borders and beds Hedging & Screens Wall-side Borders City & Courtyard Gardens Cottage & Informal Garden
Propogation
Propagate by seed, sown 5cm deep either under glass in spring, or directly outside in early summer, after all danger of frost has passed
Pests
Runner beans may be affected by aphids such as the black bean aphid which are often farmed by ants, but eaten by many aphid predators; by slugs and snails; and occasionally by bean seed fly, red spider mite, southern green shield bug
Diseases
Runner beans are generally disease-free, but may be affected by runner bean and French bean rust, and halo blight, and occasionally by bean anthracnose, foot and root rots, grey mould, sclerotinia, virus diseases, and wilts