Runner Beans Climbing a Hazel Wigwam

Runner beans reached England from the Americas in the 1600s. For years gardeners grew them for the scarlet flowers instead of the pods. Today they are a vegetable garden regular, usually trained up a wigwam of poles tied together at the top. The one in this runner bean jigsaw puzzle is made of rough hazel sticks and has vanished under heart-shaped leaves, red flower clusters and long green pods. Lettuce fills the raised bed beside it. Beans like these are best picked young, so whoever planted them has some picking ahead.