# Purple Bean Plants
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Hyacinth Beans
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Hyacinth beans (Dolichos lablab) have purple stems and leaves and purple seed pods. This member of the pea family usually offers lavender flowers, but may have pink or white flowers. The plant produces poisonous flowers and poisonous raw beans; however, according to the University of Arkansas Extension Service, the bean pods and foliage are edible, and the beans may be rendered edible by boiling them in two changes of water. The plants take 90 days to create pods. Hyacinth beans grow up to 15 feet in a single season and can be grown as a decorative vine or used to quickly cover a space in order to hide or promote a feature.
Purple Queen Snap Beans
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Snap beans (also known as string beans or green beans) offer some purple varieties. 'Purple Queen' snap beans are a bush-type bean. Bush beans plants only reach approximately 2 feet in height and do not need support. As with many purple snap beans, the ripe beans of Purple Queen have a purple color that changes to green when cooked. The snap bean 'Royal Burgundy' can be used raw in salads, preserving its color and interest.
Plant snap beans after all danger of frost has passed. Plant the beans in succession, every week to two weeks, for a continuous supply of beans across the growing season.
Romano Beans
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Purple 'Romano' beans are also a type of snap bean. Romano beans feature a broad and flat pod. The California Cooperative Extension notes that snap beans (such as Romano) prefer a soil temperature range of 65 to 85 degrees F, and the extension warns that beans need blooming days where temperatures do not exceed 90 degrees, as such heat can adversely affect the yield and the quality of the beans produced.
According to the California Cooperative Extension, once harvested, snap beans should be kept at 40 to 45 degrees F, and, because the beans show sensitivity to chilling, they should not be exposed to temperatures below 40 degrees. The extension further recommends that the beans be stored away from any products that produce ethylene gas.
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