Is this a record?

[Verinda]

Five years ago my son planted a runner bean in a pot. He soon lost interest in it, but I kept it on the windowsill where it grew happily.

Five years on it's still looking green and healthy and twining round the curtain rail! Never actually produced any beans though.

I'd no idea a runner bean could live for more than one season.

[Snadger]

Well done you!

I think in their natural habitat (wherever that may be) they ARE perennial, so you must have emulated this.

[Florence Fennel]

Well I never!

[singleseeder]

I know some gardening books have suggested cutting runners down at the end of the season, protecting the roots a little over winter and letting them grow a second season. Could be worth a try in the south.

[arpoet]

I knew someone who cuts back some of his best runner bean plants in the autumn, digs the roots up and stores them in a cool dark frost free place, then grows em on again next spring to get an early crop. He always said that where they originated they grew all year round... how true that is in dont know.
Roger

[Aberdeenplotter]

If it was in a race it would be disqualified for being a non -runner

[Two_Sheds]

Yep, they're perennials in warmer climates. I think RustyLady has managed to keep one going for more than a season, in her sheltered lotty site

[Verinda]

It will be interesting to see how much longer my bean will survive!