Hummingbirds And Butterflies Love This Edible Flowering Plant

There's nothing quite like stepping into your garden just to find it alive with color and hummingbirds and butterflies buzz from plant to plant. These eye-catching animals give life to your garden, while also aiding your plants through pollination. If you're interested in attracting more pollinators to your yard, the first step is providing the right plants to catch their eyes. This includes those like this stunning (and edible) flowering plant.

The Painted Lady runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus) blooms with show-stopping red flowers accented by pale petals. Because they're cloaked in a hummingbird's favorite colors, they can stand out to your little feathered friends, inviting them to your yard. But the best part? Once those flowers are spent for the year, they produce edible beans that you can enjoy, allowing this plant to pull double-duty in your garden.

Alongside hummingbirds and butterflies, Painted Lady runner beans can also attract bees. However, to see the best results with this pollinator-friendly plant, you first need to learn how to grow it. This means familiarizing yourself with its optimal growing conditions and learning about its day-to-day care.

To start a pollinator garden and grow your own Painted Lady runner beans from seed, you have to choose between starting them indoors or outdoors. For indoor seedlings, sow around two weeks before your region's last frost. Using a biodegradable pot that you can transplant with your seedling can reduce some of the hassle, as well as the likelihood of root disturbance. For outdoor seedlings, you can sow directly into the ground anytime after your last frost when the temperatures are consistently above 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Frost and cold weather can spell the end for runner beans, so picking the perfect time to plant or transplant your seeds is essential. After all, you don't want your Painted Lady runner beans to fail before you've had the chance to enjoy their bright flowers and the wildlife they attract. Variety aside, runner beans overall are hardy in USDA Hardiness zones 7 through 11.

As for choosing the right location for your runner beans, it's important to keep both soil and sunlight in mind. Painted Lady runner beans require full sun for the best results. They also need consistently moist soil with good-drainage to prevent any waterlogged or soggy soil that could harm the plant. They aren't too picky about soil type, thriving in rich soil that's either clay-based or sandy. If you need a spot where you have more control over the soil, don't fret. Runner beans can also be grown as a part of a container garden. When growing these beans specifically with wildlife in mind, make sure to avoid common pollinator garden mistakes such as using pesticides.