Painted Lady Runner Bean is a stunning heirloom climber that blends ornamental beauty with edible beans, reaching 6 to 8 feet tall on a narrow footprint. Named for its striking bicolored flowers that bloom throughout summer, this variety (Phaseolus coccineus) produces beans after 315 to 385 days from seed to bloom, making it a long-season grower best suited to patient gardeners in warmer climates. The vines attract pollinators reliably and yield tender pods perfect for fresh eating, all while creating a living tapestry of red and white blooms from June through August.
1
Full Sun
Moderate
3-10
96in H x 12in W
—
High
Hover over chart points for details
The magic here is dual purpose: you get a genuinely ornamental vine with flowers that stop visitors in their tracks, plus a productive bean harvest from the same plant. Runner beans are serious climbers that need sturdy vertical support, and this heirloom variety thrives on that structure, creating dense, flowering screens that pollinators love. The beans themselves are edible and tender, making this one of the few varieties that truly justifies growing both for looks and the table.
Painted Lady Runner Beans are grown primarily as ornamental vines for their showy bicolored flowers, which create striking visual interest on trellises, arbors, and garden walls from summer through early fall. The young pods are also edible and can be harvested and cooked fresh, offering a secondary culinary benefit to what is fundamentally a flowering crop.
No timeline data available yet for this variety.
Direct sow Painted Lady Runner Beans outdoors a couple of weeks after your last frost date, when soil has warmed. Plant seeds 1 inch deep into prepared beds enriched with 1 to 2 inches of compost. Seeds typically sprout within 5 to 10 days in warm soil.
Enter your ZIP code to see a personalized growing calendar for this plant.