Be a keen bean

We have beans coming out of our ears at the moment. Ten weeks ago I sowed ‘Scarlet Runners’ and ‘Purple King’ climbing bean seeds at the base of an archway we made out of the circular frame of our old trampoline, which we wrapped in wire for the beans to scramble up.

The ‘Scarlet Runners’ were the first to produce followed by ‘Purple King’ two weeks later.

Violet-coloured flowers are followed by deep purple beans which are green on the inside.

Their purple exterior is just for looks though because they turn completely green when you cook them.

Keep picking climbing beans daily to keep plants producing for another month or two and water them regularly because if they become heat stressed they’ll stop producing.

Heat stress also makes them more vulnerable to sap-sucking pests such as aphids and green vege bugs.

If you live in a warm part of the country, you’ve still got a few weeks left to sow a crop of beans. Direct sow seeds at a depth equal to the knuckle on your index finger.

BAN RODENTS FROM YOUR HEAP

Our cat brought a live baby rat into our house the other day, which I had to admit was quite cute despite being terrified of it at the same time.

I was justified in my fear because it bit my partner when he extricated it from

GET GROWING

This column is adapted from the weekly e-zine, get growing, from New Zealand Gardener magazine. For gardening advice delivered to your inbox every Friday, sign up for Get Growing at: getgrowing.co.nz

behind a pile of recipe books. Being unable to turn my compost for fear of seeing a rat or mouse has been a handicap for me and my garden, so I’m thrilled that my newly built compost heap is wrapped in wire mesh.

I’m not convinced that a rat won’t be able to chomp through it – their teeth are pretty impressive – but our Good Nature trap to the side of the heap will also humanely keep the population down.

If you have a plastic compost bin, you can also rat proof it using galvanised wire mesh and cable ties.

Check out Predator Free NZ’s tips on how to do this at predatorfreenz.org.

Never put bones, meat or fish in your bin as the smell will attract rodents from all over your neighbourhood.

MAKE PLANTS A POWER SHAKE

I’ve been feeding my plants liquid fertiliser every two to three weeks over summer and it’s made a massive difference to the health of my plants, especially now that soil is drying out.

I dilute Garden Time Liquid Feed or Seasol into a 42-litre plastic Flexi Tub of water, dunk my watering can into the

PLANT PENSTEMONS FOR LONGTERM FLOWER POWER

If there was an Academy Award for flowering perennials, this year mine would go to the ‘Firebird’ penstemons that have been flowering in my garden nonstop since November. I bought them two years ago and had them in a pot for a season before cutting them back and moving them to the garden.

Now they’re a dreamy drift of vertical colour.

Last weekend I diversified my penstemon portfolio by purchasing claretcoloured ‘Raven’ from Debbie Sisam at Puriri Lane. ‘Raven’ was awarded the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit, which is the equivalent of an Oscar in the gardening world. Sisam also rates ‘Garnet’ and ‘Purple Passion’.

Deadhead penstemons throughout summer and they’ll keep flowering until autumn. Lift and divide plants every three or four years.