I just found this out last fall. I don't remember when I first planted these but every year I stick a few of these into a neglected corner of my yard with a trellis, forget entirely about them and notice in late fall that I have dried beans hanging in that dry and weed infested corner of the yard. I harvest them and have considerably more than I planted. Next spring I thoroughly weed that corner and promise this year I won't neglect them... and I'm always lying.
This year things will different. I found out another name for these is the seven year lima, because they're perennial. I didn't weed them out of the raised bed they were in last year, just applied mulch in the spring. They have survived the winter. Little vine shoots cover the whole bed now. This year, when I forget about them and stop watering they will be growing on multi year established root systems. I'm really excited to see how they do. Usually we are either too hot or too cold for perennial vegetables.
I'm in zone 8b leaning hard into 9a right now. Our summers are long hot and dry by July unless we get a tropical system. I highly recommend this variety for central texas. I am pretty sure you need a long fall to get a harvest but it I do usually harvest around Christmas day. I suspect I would get more, and perhaps earlier harvest if these weren't grown under STUN conditions. If you are in Central Texas it's not to late to plant these.
Until a stay sentence in a article this fall I didn't even realize what I had was a perennial bean. I had already been growing them in the raised bed at the northernmost corner of the yard with no protection so I wouldn't be surprised if it could be grown with protection at least to zone 7.
Eventually they predict we'll be zone 9b here. I am trying to incorporate some of the hardiest tropicals in my garden now. There's a sheltered bed on the south side of the house where I have put bananas and yacon. I have pidgeon peas I intend to test as a hedge outside the vegetable beds and a katuk plant also this year
I'm fairly sure we've confused the root sprouts with bindweed seedlings more than once in the past. Best thing about planting ornamental morning glories is that now I catch and kill bindwed before it gets a single true leaf.
USDA maps. 2023 claims that I am in zone 8a. Pffftt! We keep having winter weather that causes daytime temperatures to be below freezing for a week or two at a time. I moved last year's attempt a foot higher elevation. Maybe the cold sank? I was moving stuff around the garden today, one of last year's vines did not pull up from a very gentle tug. I have high hopes!
Are these perennial in your garden? How cold are your winters?
A true lima bean, originally from Peru (hence Lima), this gorgeous bean has all the "meat" of limas but with a chestnut flavor. They're big and bold and can stand up to a chile sauce or curry, or simply be enjoyed with a drizzle of olive oil and a few grates of dry goat cheese. If you grew up thinking you hated limas, it's time to try again! 1 lb bag
Thanks Anne. I bought a pound from somewhere else, also labeled as not for seed, that produced THREE plants in a row 24 foot long, 2 inch spacing. I think I'm done buying stuff labeled not for seed. (We'll see how desperate I am in the future for a quantity of X seed.)
Last season I harvested about a pound of beans from plants of self saved seeds. Still have not eaten any. But in general, I like beans. Even the 'dreaded' green limas. I am hopeful of this springs planting to be better adapted. This may be the forth year growing them out?
AI whom I do not trust, claims these are hardy to USDA zone 8.
Really??? I had no idea they were perennial!!!
I grow these in the winter, they do well enough in the 9b winter, but by the time spring comes they are usually so sick looking (flea beetles, aphids) that I pull them out. I will try throwing some in the corner rather than in the garden beds themselves and see if they last. I literally just picked some up for fall planting this week.
(they make a nice cooked bean, and an even nicer bean salad)
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I'm so happy! And I wish to make this tiny ad happy too:
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