I sowed my Moonlight seed when my other runners and French beans were already planted out. Moonlight have almost caught up with my runners, and are ahead of my climbing French beans. So far so good and I am impressed at the moment. Still to do the taste test.

I am growing both Fire Storm and Moonlight on trial this year and I suspect that I have picked the wrong year to do so.
I have yet to pick a bean from any runners this year.
However Fire Storm are about two weeks ahead of Moonlight although Moonlight are now setting masses of beans. Like Realfood I have yet to assess the flavours of both varieties.
I also have a bean given to me which I do not know the name of but has bi-coloured flowers like Painted Lady but is not Painted Lady it is a modern variety. Has anybody any ideas on a modern bi-coloured flowered bean?
The seeds were a deep cream with purple blotches if that is any help.
However these beans are in front of both Firestorm and Moonlight and appear to be very prolific once they start to set flowers.
The main problem here is that we are due to have our first frosts in about two weeks time so the whole thing is a race against time.
I have decided to erect a polythene awning over the beans to prolong the season. I have done this before and it worked well but is a lot of faffing about which I do not appreciate.
If anybody can help me to name the unknown bean I would be more than grateful.
JB.

Hi Johnboy - suggest you Google "bi-coloured runner bean" and that will give you lots of links with pictures which may help. Reading up Moonlight does seem to be a bit later than other varieties. Certainly mine are setting well now, although growth is still not what I would expect. Problem is that it looks like we might get the maximum yield about the time we are on holiday!

Have a look at these bi-coloured beans are they perhaps the ones you were on about. http://www.marshalls-seeds.co.uk/runner-bean-st-george-seeds-pid3637.html

The seeds

https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/image ... ngZ-B9u6wE

Just been having a read about them, they have good reviews. It looks like I will be trialing them as well next year. Will I ever settle for one variety?

AJ

Just returned from a fortnights holiday to find my 'Moonlight' cropping heavily. They'd just started before we went away and luckily a friend had offered to keep an eye on the allotment and pick whatever was needed, she obviously did a great job as nothing has suffered. Just wish I'd shown her how to use the mower

Many thanks to Colin and especially AJC because you are both dead on the button. I had managed to get as far a St George but was still not sure until the photo of the seeds which is what I have miserably failed to find. Thank you both .
St George seem to be growing very well in comparison to other varieties and I have a mass of set flowers and plenty of beans maturing.
In this most difficult of years Fire Storm has also performed very well under the circumstances and Moonlight are now setting flowers but lag behind even my own saved seed.
Give it a week and I will be snowed under which is what I was trying to prevent. It appears that beggars cannot be choosers this year.
Thank you again both.
JB.

On another site, people have posted that Moonlight freezes very well, better than runners.

Maybe, but I would be pleased to get enough to eat in the normal way!

Hooray! I have managed to have my first pickings of Runner Beans this year and of all of them St George are the most advanced then Fire Storm
then Wisley Magic then my own seed and last of all is Moonlight.
I picked on Saturday morning and this morning there will be about a 10lb picking of more regular beans. This first picking is always composed of a few oddities but from today onway the beans will be fairly regular in width and length. Wisley Magic manage around 16 inches and remain almost stringless however mine will not be allowed to grow that long.
I have already marked some pods up as potential seed for next year in all varieties. I find that some of the beans that seem to mature wide and lack length produce some of the best seed with maybe only one or two beans in the pod.
JB.

My Moonlight is now cropping well. My impression is that the beans are bred to crop at a shorter length than a typical runner, and that they should be picked at about 25 cm length. I did a taste test comparison between Moonlight and my runners and they taste the same, both raw and cooked.
Moonlight looks like a runner with slightly ribbed skin on the beans, rather than smooth on a French bean.

This year I trialed Moonlight and Firestorm.

Moonlight.

It did not crop very well. Masses of flowers that did not convert into masses of beans. The beans themselves were quite crisp and fleshy to cut, and as has been said a nice flavour.

One thing I did notice is that some of the beans would get to 15mm in width then start to fill out and end up looking like a french bean, others would only grow to 15cm in lenth before filling out.

Firestorm.

Less flowers and a week or two later than Moonlight, but held on to it's flowers better during the wind and rain. Despite having less flowers it was the heaviest cropper of the two for me. With the beans growing to around the 30cm mark before starting to fill out.

I always try and pick beans before they fill out fully, 15 to 20mm width, and usually miss a few, but even when they got to 3cm wide they were still tender with no string.

The flavour was as you would expect a bean to taste like, not as crisp to cut as Moonlight and less fleshy but a nice bean. Those are my findings of the two.

Next year I will grow Firestorm again, but as usual will trial a new variety it will be St George, I think.

How did everyone else find Moonlight and Firestorm?

Have to say I've been very impressed by moonlight, got a huge crop. Freezer's full, 8lb chutney made and loads given away, all from a 5 cane wigwam. Very pleased

I grew Moonlight and Lady Di this year. Both planted out at the same time. Moonlight started cropping a good 10 days before Lady Di.
I shall certainly grow them again next year