The Painted Lady Runner bean (Phaseolus Coccineus) is a highly ornamental, heritage variety with bicolour flowers and cream coloured beans, streaked with deep brown markings (may also have been known as York and Lancaster). The full history of Painted Lady is unclear and it may have been grown as early as the mid 1600's in England but it was certainly a popular variety in England by the 1850s. It's now relegated to being grown as a pretty screen by many vegetable growers because there are better performing varieties on the market. Even so it still produces a good crop of well flavoured beans and is much less vigourous than modern varieties making it a great variety for the smaller garden. It produces more than enough beans for us! Pick the bean pods regularly to ensure a continuous crop throughout the late summer. Best picked at 6-8 inches long while the pod is relatively smooth 80 days.