Scarlet Runner Bean

Do I need more than one of these to produce beans? My son brought this home from school one day and we planted it in the garden. It now controls (completely covers) a 4'x5' section of wire fence and is expanding rapidly, covered in red blossoms. However, despite the fact that it has been blooming for a couple months now we have seen no beans. I was under the impression that beans had 'perfect' flowers and were self-compatible, but beans are really not my area of expertise (this is the only bean in the garden). I'm sure there aren't many who only plant one bean plant (though with the size of these I wouldn't want more than half a dozen), so perhaps that is why I've been unable to answer this question in my research online. Do I need to bring in another bean plant to get seed? My son wants to know why there are no beans.
Thanks.

My father grows scarlet runner beans every year and he tells me that the beans set as soon as the weather starts to cool down. Hope this helps. :)

So they don't set when it's warm? That could be a real problem. We have sustained heat for another couple months here. . .
On the other hand, we might have some nice beans in October that way, and I wouldn't have to go get another bean to make my son happy!

If anyone else can corroborate or provide first hand knowledge I'll stop looking for scarlet runner beans to keep this one company.

Runner beans are a different species from regular beans and do need a cool climate to set. Think England or Northern Europe where they are more popular. Just be patient and enjoy the blossoms.

They grow down here too. They do better in the spring and fall.

Great! Thanks for all of your help. I don't know why I couldn't find any information on their needing cool weather to set beans. I'm not in a hurry and it's very ornamental, I just needed to know what to tell my son, and to "fix it" if I needed to.

In hot weather we spray the flowers with cold water of a morning and evening. The water doesn't actually help induce pod set itself but it does cool the flowers and hopefully the pollen grains are then cooled enough to germinate to initiate pod set.

I've grown scarlet runner beans for the past two years and have had great luck with them. In Portland, OR, our highs are only in the 80's with lows in the high 50's. During hot spells, I've noticed that many tiny beans just shrivel up instead of forming new beans. The only way I've found around this is to water 2x a day. The flowers are edible and taste like peas. They look very nice in a salad as well. I find them to be heavy feeders as well and feed with fish emulsion every 3 weeks.

Here's my runner bean patch. I set up 9 bamboo poles 9 feet long each to provide more space from them to grow since the vines grow so long.

Scarlet Runners are by far my FAVORITE pole bean. Yes, it's true that bean production can drop or go on hiatus when temps run high, but the wait is worth it.

Also keep in mind that the flowers are edible as well. They have a nice, light, beany taste & make an excellent addition to salads or as food garnishes.

The beans themselves are excellent picked young, stringed, sliced, boiled until just tender, & tossed with just butter, salt, pepper, & some fresh or dried Marjoram. Delicious!!

I love steaming them up just until they turn a bright green then eating. Yummmm. I'm going to water the heck out them this weekend and give them a bunch of fish emulsion as well as add some bone meal into the soil. I had to buy another sprinkler as my little $3 one couldn't reach the top of the foliage any more.

Okay, now you guys are just being mean :)
With our temperatures at a consistent upper 90s/100s for the last couple of months, and expected to be that way for a while yet, all I can do is listen to you people talk about how tasty they are and wonder if we'll have an indian summer this year...

Actually, my bean harvest rate has really gone down lately and with the heat this weekend, I'm not expecting that to change in the near future. I hope we do have an indian summer this year so I can have at least one more harvest this season. I'll also have to use a ladder to pick them as the vines are too tall for me to get the beans from.