Hyacinth Bean Vine

MANY moons ago, I found my first hyacinth bean vine at a yard sale and it was love at first sight! I love this vine even though it will swallow up an arbor - all it needs is lots of room. I was told the seeds/pods are poisonous and I've heard they can be eaten...educate yourself, though I can't imagine even wanting to eat them!

Once you have a hyacinth bean vine, all that needs to be done is saving the pods from year to year. They're also good at 'saving' themselves and can pop up in unexpected places - they're a wonderful gift to other gardening friends. The sweet pea-like flower is simply beautiful!

 As seen here in these pictures, it will cover where ever it's planted.

 After their bloom, these purple pods are produced and are lovely in an autumn flower arrangement. I let the pods dry on the vine to collect seeds for the next year and let them in the pod until I want to plant them the next year. The seeds are the size of a pea and black with a white stripe on the edge. It grows up to twenty feet tall and is a twinning vine. I generally give it a little help to get it started by tucking it in and around whatever it's growing on. All around, it's a fascinating plant!

 They do need protection from the bunnies - they so love the tender young plants!

If anyone is interested in seeds to plant in your garden, send me a SASE and I'll be happy to share seeds with you!

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On another note...

Last week I was honored to receive an invite to Home Talk to share my Back to Eden Gardening post.

 I'll be linking more posts there.