What’s Blooming September 2018
By: Daniel Murphy, Collections Curator | 09/12/2018
Scarlet Runner Bean
This vining plant in the bean family can be found growing in both the Children’s Adventure Garden and the Vegetable Garden. It is commonly grown as an ornamental, but like other species in its genus, its pods and seeds are edible. The long, slender pods it produces are as long as some of our koi.
Seeds: Red Orach
The red orach (Atriplex hortensis) in the Vegetable Garden flowered and went to seed earlier this year, but we have kept its tall seed stalks in place because they are such an eye-catching centerpiece. The leaves of this plant taste like a saltier version of spinach, and one of its close relatives – four-wing saltbush – can be found growing nearby in the Idaho Native Plant Garden.
