Not the best of photographs, however this is the variety of dwarf bean which I "Liberated" from George Washington's home at Mount Vernon last Autumn whilst in the USA. A label next to them said Poinciana, but I'm not sure that's a bean variety - unless anyone can shed some light on them. I have decided to name the variety 'Mount Vernon' , it has a pale pod with pink spots. I have 4 plants this year, one of which I will leave for seed.Another example of my lighthandedness... a few years ago at the Lost Gardens of Heligan, in Cornwall, I liberated a dried dwarf bean from their compost heap. This is a lovely purple variety called 'Royalty'. Each year I save my own seed and it is a wonderful reminder of a great holiday.
I must urge blog readers to have a go at saving your own seed. Saves oodles of money and gives immense satisfaction.
Yesterday I took seed from my Norwegian lettuce plant. I bought seeds right up in Northern Norway last June. The lettuces are very hardy, and stand well over the Winter. It had grown up into a 4foot tall stalk with yellow flowers. What a fiddle taking seeds from a lettuce plant !! Imagine a dandelion clock... then go down to about 2mm in size and there you have it. Still, with a wet finger and a magnifying glass I whiled away a couple of hours. Where else could you have so much fun?