Mystery Seeds

When at the campground in SC this past September and October I noticed that another permanent resident had a vine in her side yard that intrigued me. It was a bit scrawny and grew from a hanging pot and twisted around the shepherd's hook.  The lady seemed to never be at home whenever I passed by, but once I caught her coming in.  I asked her what kind of vine she was growing and she didn't know. She received the seed in a gift can which called it a Jack in the Beanstalk, with directions of how to grow it. She threw the can away! She then told me that in the summer it produced a lovely large purple flower. I never saw the flower. 

Actually, the reason it attracted my attention was that there were only two hanging long seed pods on the bare stems and I wanted one. They looked like giant pea pods.  So.....I asked her if I could have one when they had dried. 

One morning I discovered MY pod on my porch deck. Whoopee!!!! I did see her later on that week to thank her. She told me that several others were stopping by when they saw those pods and she was afraid that someone would pick them and take them away so she beat them to it!  She kept one and asked me what I was going to do with mine. I told her I would dry it, open it, save the seeds, and next year plant them to see what vine it really is. I also told her I would try to accomplish, by internet research, its identification.

I was afraid that, because they hadn't dried on the vine they weren't ripe enough to pick, but just decided to dry the pod and reap the seeds anyway. So I did. When the pod finished drying in my PA home it really rattled and was tough to open. BEANS! I have purple/pinkish beans! 

I have spent hours trying to know what my precious seeds are. I have just about given up and hope that I can plant them and have them sprout and grow and produce flowers and more wonderful ten inch pods.