Black Coat Runner Bean is a stunning heirloom pole bean that dates back to the mid-1600s, first recorded by German botanist Michael Titius in his botanical catalogs. This rare variety produces masses of brilliant flowers ranging from tangerine to cherry red, attracting hummingbirds while the vines climb 6 to 7 feet high. The real treasure lies in the pods and beans themselves: sleek 6- to 8-inch pods yield glossy onyx-black beans with remarkable flavor. Growing in zones 7 through 11, it reaches maturity in just 75 days and thrives in full sun with moderate water. It's a plant that delivers on every level, combining ornamental beauty with serious culinary payoff.
Full Sun
Moderate
7-11
84in H x ?in W
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Moderate
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Imagine walking past your vegetable garden and being stopped in your tracks by masses of flaming blooms in shades of tangerine and cherry red, with hummingbirds darting between the flowers. Those showy blossoms aren't just for show; they give way to elegant pods that climb your trellis, each one maturing to reveal stunning onyx-black beans inside. This ancient heirloom has survived nearly 400 years precisely because it excels at what matters most: producing abundant, flavorful beans while looking absolutely gorgeous doing it. The combination of edible ornamental appeal and genuine culinary quality is rare enough to make this variety genuinely special.
Black Coat Runner Bean pods are harvested young for eating fresh, typically picked at the 6- to 8-inch stage when they're tender and flavorful. The beans inside can be eaten fresh as immature seeds, snapped and cooked with the pod while still green, or allowed to mature fully and dried for storage and winter use. The mature black beans have a firm texture and rich flavor that makes them excellent for bean stews, soups, and traditional bean dishes. This dual-purpose capability, where the same plant can provide multiple harvests at different maturity stages, is one reason this heirloom has remained valuable to gardeners for centuries.
No timeline data available yet for this variety.
Transplant hardened-off seedlings outdoors once soil temperatures consistently reach 60 degrees Fahrenheit and all frost danger has passed. Space seedlings 8 inches apart at the base of your trellis or pole structure.
Direct sow seeds 8 inches apart along your trellis when soil temperatures reach 60 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit, after the last frost date for your zone. Plant seeds about 1 inch deep.
Begin harvesting pods when they reach 6 to 8 inches in length and are still tender, typically around 75 days from planting. At this stage, the beans inside are immature and the entire pod can be eaten. Snap off pods by hand, being careful not to pull the entire vine. For mature dried beans, allow pods to remain on the vine until they dry completely and turn brown; shell out the glossy black beans and store them dry. Regular harvesting encourages the plant to continue flowering and producing new pods throughout the season.
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“Black Coat Runner Bean carries a documented lineage stretching back to the mid-1600s, when it first appeared in the botanical records of German botanist Michael Titius, preserved in his Catalogues Plantarum. This is no recently rediscovered variety; it's a living connection to European heirloom gardening traditions, preserved through careful seed saving by gardeners who recognized that the combination of extraordinary beauty and exceptional flavor was worth maintaining. The fact that it survived centuries of agricultural change and modernization speaks to its reliability and appeal. It represents the era when distinctions between ornamental and edible plants were far more fluid, and gardeners expected their vegetables to feed both the table and the eye.”