Climbing Bean Blue Lake Seeds
A prolific, tasty bean with no strings attached!
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Just £3.99
Key Features
Plant In Sunshine
Edible
Easy To Grow
Wildlife Friendly
Width: 45cm
Height: 180cm
Height: 180cm
- A superb French type bean producing heavy crops of dark green, tasty pods
- An heirloom variety and long-time gardeners’ favourite
- Generally used as green beans but can be allowed to ripen and used as haricots
- Healthy and nutritious – a good source of vitamins A and C, and fibre
- Supplied as a pack of approximately 100 seeds, ready to sow indoors or outdoors
Plant Calendar
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Description
Dating back to the late 19th century, this heirloom variety is justly popular for its flavour and its heavy crops of round, stringless pods. With consistently good results over a long cropping season, this prolific climbing French bean produces clusters of fleshy pods that have a superior texture and taste and are rich in vitamins and fibre.
As well as being easy to grow, ‘Blue Lake’ makes an attractive feature whether grown in the veg garden or nestled amongst herbaceous plants in your beds and borders. They look particularly good when grown up a trellis or ‘wigwam’ of canes, not least for their pretty white flowers. Plant them with sweet peas for a pleasing contrast of colours.
‘Blue Lake’ is generally grown as a green bean for cooking. In fact, they should not be eaten raw as they contain toxins that are destroyed in the cooking process. The pods are best picked young to increase yields, and steamed or boiled rapidly to make the best of their flavour and texture, as well as to retain the most nutrients. Inside the rich green pods are white seeds or beans, which can be harvested from pods that are left to mature for longer on the plant. They can then be dried and stored to be used as haricot beans in soups and stews.
This climbing bean will thrive in neutral, humus-rich, moisture-retentive but well-drained soil in a sunny position. Sow the seeds indoors from April to May to plant out May to June; or sow outdoors from May to July, directly where they are to crop. Harvest from July to October.
Supplied as a pack of 100 (approx.) seeds ready to sow indoors into individual pots or outdoors directly into their cropping position. Grows to 180cm height x 45cm spread.
Top Tips
- Soak seeds for half an hour before sowing to encourage quick germination.
- An early and late sowing will extend the harvest season.
- In hot weather, mist the flowers with tepid water in the evening to help pods form.
- Whole green beans are ideal for freezing. The white seeds inside the pods can be dried and stored for cooking as haricot beans.
Care Information
How to grow Climbing Bean
- Sow indoors, April to May, for surest results, 2.5cm (1in) deep into individual pots of compost. Water well and place in a warm position. A temperature of 15-20°C (60-68°F) is ideal. Keep moist. Seedlings usually appear in 7-14 days. Gradually accustom plants to outside conditions (avoid frosts), before planting out 25cm (10in) apart, when frosts are over. Allow 45cm (18in) between rows. Provide poles, netting or trellis for plants to climb.
- Or sow outdoors, May to July, where they are to crop, 5cm (2in) deep, directly into finely prepared soil that has already been watered. Delay sowing if soil is cold or waterlogged. Sow 2 seeds together, 30cm (12in) between each position. Allow 45cm (18in) between rows. Thin to leave stronger plant. Water well until plants are established. Provide poles, netting or trellis for plants to climb. Pinch out tops of plants once they reach 180cm (72ins).
- Pick beans regularly to encourage further cropping.
Delivery Information
Please allow us 3-5 working days to dispatch your order. Pre-ordered items will be sent as soon as possible after the date quoted and we'll generally ship your entire order with your pre-ordered items. When your order is dispatched, we'll send you another email with details of how to track it.
Most orders are sent on a fully-tracked courier service with Yodel. To avoid perishable items being stuck at depots and deteriorating, no signature is required, and our courier is asked to leave your order in a safe place on your property.
We'll send a tracking link when we dispatch your order, so you know when its due to arrive. Please note, once delivered we cannot be held responsible for loss or theft from your property. If you have any specific delivery instructions, please let us know - there's an option to enter a short message for the courier at the checkout.
Smaller, lighter, single-item orders may be sent through the post with Royal Mail - in which case no tracking is available.
Our experienced nursery team will always send your plants nursery fresh in the perfect condition to thrive when you plant them, so although most plants are very tough and will not be affected by all but the most extreme frosts or heatwaves, we avoid dispatching the most perishable plants if extreme weather is forecast, or over Bank Holiday weekends.
Please note, we cannot guarantee delivery on a certain day or time. Delivery to outlying postcode areas may take 1-2 days longer, dependent on your location.
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