Decorative Bean Plants

Purple Hyacinth Bean

• An old-fashioned flowering vine, purple hyacinth beans (Lablab purpureus) have lush, dark green foliage and delicate light-purple flowers that bloom in the summer. This vine has purple pods that emerge when the flowers fade. Planting purple hyacinth beans next to a sturdy pole on which the vines can climb will add a strong vertical element to your garden's design. Pick the bean pods in the autumn, after they have dried, to save for next year's garden. Raw purple hyacinth beans are poisonous, but when thoroughly cooked they can be eaten like other dried beans.

Scarlet Runner Beans

• Delicious as a vegetable side dish and attractive as a garden plant, scarlet runner beans (Phaseolus coccineus L.) are useful for both their food and garden qualities. Grow this variety of beans on a trellis or along a fence where the vines have plenty of room to spread as they grown to their mature length of 12 to 15 feet. Scarlet runner beans are covered with stems filled with scarlet flowers in the summer. When the blossoms wilt and drop, green beans emerge. Pick the beans when they are young and tender; steam and serve to add fresh flavor to your meals. Allow the bean pods to stay on the vine until late fall, then pick the pods and shell to use in dried bean recipes.

Castor Beans

• Visually dramatic and dangerous if ingested, castor beans are best grown in an area of the garden where children and pets can't get to them. Rising up on red stalks as tall as 15 feet, castor bean plants are ornamentals with large, lobed leaves and fluffy, small red flowers. This bean's scientific name, Ricinus communis, relates its relationship to ricin--a poison made from castor bean seeds. Situate a grouping of castor bean plants in an area where the height and large foliage bring vertical dimension to the garden.