The listing, FAST GROWING AND BEAUTIFUL HYACINTH VINE BEANS. PURPLE FLOWERS, MAROON PODS, GREEN/MAROON LEAVES has ended.
This newly-popular plant is a big garden hit these days but since it has previously been claimed by most of the rest of the world, it isn't really new at all. Also known as Indian Bean, Egyptian Bean, Dolichos lablab, Lablab purpureus, Bonavist, Chinese Flowering Bean and Pharoah Bean, it is widely grown in Africa, India and Asia for use as food for livestock. The Hyacinth Bean Vine's most prestigious role in the United States has been in the gardens of Thomas Jefferson's historic farm, Monticello. It can grow up, over and around fences or walls but can also be used as ground cover. If you intend to grow it vertically, be sure that your trellis, arbor or fence can take some weight, as these vigorous growers can easily surpass ten feet in height and pull heavily on their growing structures. Hyacinth bean would look very pretty planted near something with white flowers, such as vinca, or along a white fence or arbor. If you haven't seen it yet, you need only catch a quick glimpse to know that it is not soon forgotten. The leaves are dark green but have maroon stems. In mid- to late-summer, it blooms like sweet peas with racemes of small pink and white flowers and eventually produces long, maroon seed pods.