A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 Purple Hyacinth Bean

hello everyone!
I was recently at my local botanical garden and I saw these FABULOUSLY vibrant purple bean pods hanging down from vines, with teeny little flowers, and I thought out very loudly "Those are so cool! My dad needs those in his garden so I can enjoy them!!" The little sign said they were purple hibiscus beans or purple bean hibiscus, I can't remember exactly which...but when I searched the web, nothing came up except regular hibiscus and beans. Has anyone else seen or heard of them? Is there any knowledge out there at all? I'm sure I could go back to the gardens and ask someone, but I was near positive that someone on this site would have some info for me.
Thanks for any help in advance.

i think you mean purple hyacinth bean (or maybe is is hiacynth?) i have some, and they are awesome! got mine in a seed trade. i can't wait till next year, i'll have more!!!

lilitu...
I have some of those seeds I can send you if you want some.

They grow really fast!

Cindy

Lilitu, the Hyacinth Bean Vine (Dolichos lablab) is a wonderful annual vine that I wouldn't be without. I've just begun harvesting the dried seed pods and even that is a lot of fun. Your dad is sure to enjoy the vines all season.

here are two sites with good info and a few pics...
site 1
site 2

I also have seeds of the pink.they do great in a hanging basket...even look good mixed with purple jew...

Pink? i didn't know they had pink!

Me either....cool....I need to find me some of them.....

There is also white although I've only seen pictures of it.

i have white and purple... compliments of wonderful people here!

I've grown the white.the flowers are shorter& the pods were striped purple& green.I musta lost my whites...I didn't grow this year.& not sure if had any pics last year of the white.it grew with my mandevilla& white moonvine on arbor till hubby hit the white hycanith with weedwacker.I CAN tell ya that if ya cut bottom out of butter bown and set over broke stem and fill with dirt....that it WON'T revive.

I have grown the hyacinth beans for several years. I store pods in ziplock bag in freezer to plant next year. They sometimes just reseed on their own. They do attract many bees, so be careful where they are planted. I live in zone 6.