Interesting Plant: Asparagus Pea (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus)

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Douglas E. Welch

Interesting Plant: Asparagus Pea (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus)

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Interesting Plant: Asparagus Pea (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus)

“The Winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus), also known as the Goa bean and Asparagus pea, Four-angled bean and Winged pea, is a tropical legume plant native to New Guinea. It grows abundantly in hot, humid equatorial countries, from the Philippines and Indonesia to India, Burma, Thailand and Sri Lanka. It does well in humid tropics with high rainfall. There are also varieties that can be grown in most areas of the U.S..

The winged bean plant grows as a vine with climbing stems and leaves, 3–4 m in height. It is an herbaceous perennial, but can be grown as an annual. It is generally taller and notably larger than the Common bean. The bean pod is typically 15–22 cm (6–9 in) long and has four wings with frilly edges running lengthwise. The skin is waxy and the flesh partially translucent in the young pods. When the pod is fully ripe, it turns an ash-brown color and splits open to release the seeds. The large flower is a pale blue. The beans themselves are similar to soybeans in both use and nutritional content (being 29.8% to 39% protein).” — Wikipedia.org

I had never heard of the Asparagus Pea until last Saturday night during the Wisconsin Vegetable Garden Google Hangout. Carol and Kerrie from the Seed Keeper Company mentioned that this was one of the new plants they were growing this year. After my reading about the plant, it seems an amazing thing to grow. I might have to check it out myself, even with my well-known aversion to peas in general. Perhaps this is different enough to find a way into my diet.

More information on Asparagus Pea (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus):

Previously in the Interesting Plant series:

Video: Container Garden Update 21 – A new container, more frugal lettuce and cutting some parsley

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Douglas E. Welch

I add a new container with some nasturtiums and some more “frugal lettuce”. Also, I cut some parsley for tonight’s pot of soup and give some more updates.

What’s happening in your garden? I’d love to know! Leave your questions and comments here or on any of the web and social media sites linked below!

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Garden Inventory: Ficus repens

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Douglas E. Welch

Garden Inventory is a series where I begin an inventory of all the plants and trees in my garden. Along with some of my own pictures, I will link to various sources of information about each plant and tree so we can learn a little more together.

I would also like to highlight your special plants and tress. Pass along your favorite plants in the comments and I will use them for future Garden Inventory posts. — Douglas

Garden Inventory: Ficus repens

A rather unassuming plant that often hides the background, almost unnoticed in most gardens. In my case, it once used to cover our back wall until the car dealership behind us decided to rebuild both the wall and their parking lot. I tried to maintain as many of the plants as possible, but the new wall foundations ended up removing most of the plants. Still, I have a few plants and I am trying to recover the new wall, but it is slow going. The vine covers well, but slowly and I need many more individual plants to reestablish it fully. This is one of the plants I am planning on propagating in my (hopefully, soon to happen) Propagation Project. I want to propagate more of nearly everything I have in the garden at the moment.

I like this ficus because, while it covers well, it doesn’t try to take over your entire garden. It only grows a few inches off the surface of the wall and doesn’t seem to like growing across the ground. I can start to climb on adjacent plants, but along this large back wall there are nothing but mature trees, so it is easy to remove any runners that might appear.