Scarlet Emperor

Scarlet Emperor has been a favourite for decades, which is no surprise, it produces heavy crops of long, smooth textured dark-green, pods of excellent flavour. Sliced and blanched, they freeze well for tasty out-of-season supplies.

Scarlet Emperor sets fat, slightly fuzzy pods filled with a rich savory beans. Though the 15 to 20cm (6 to 8in), plump, juicy pods are less uniform than some varieties, the taste of Scarlet Emperor is as sweet as a bean can get. This easy-to-grow food needs little tending, traditionally used as a soup bean, the beans are also edible as young pods.

With its large sprays of brilliant rich, red flowers that contrast against deep green foliage, it is grown both for the flowers and the sweet pods. With such magnificent slender clusters of rich red flowers, the Scarlet Emperor can be used as a flowering screen, vine, or fence cover.

The black and purple seeds are also used to make bean jewelry.

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