Canavalia gladiata

The pretty pink summer flowers and compound leaves of this climbing East Asian legume would be reason enough for me to grow it. However, I consider it a must have vine for the garden because of its massive 12”-14” pods that come on in late summer and fall. They are so fun and interesting. Sword bean is grown as an edible crop in India, Asia, and Africa but the seeds have a bit of toxicity and are only made edible by boiling. Be sure to give it a tall enough support to get it high enough up in the air to enjoy seeing its sword-like pods. When removing the plants after they have frozen, cut away the tops and add to the compost pile but leave the root system to decay and release nitrogen into the soil.