STANDOUT VARIETIES

Hardy and prolific ‘‘Superaguadulce’’ has 25cm-long pods with seven to eight seeds and matures 75 days after planting. If you’re not keen on staking, don’t have much space or want to grow broad beans in pots, go for ‘‘Cole’s Early Dwarf’’ or ‘‘Robin Hood’’, an award-winning dwarf variety to 45cm with attractive green pods and beans that is particularly cold hardy.

There is no denying that there is something quite chic about black-and-white broad bean flowers but crimson-flowering ‘‘Hughey’’ is particularly striking in the vege garden. Although it has pink flowers, it produces bright green beans (unlike heritage red-seeded broad beans, which stay red when cooked but contrarily produce white flowers).

have been dusted with chocolate. Remove infected plant material as soon as you see signs and dispose of it in the rubbish or burn it to avoid spreading spores. The fungus will remain in the soil, so don’t plant your next crop in the same place for at least two years. Growing in neutral to alkaline soil with plant spacing that allows good airflow around the plants will help.

Black aphids can be a nuisance in early summer, blast off with your hose or squash with your fingers.