Major Cook's Bean

This bean was passed to our donor, Mr Luxton, by his father in 1960. Mr Luxton senior had been given seeds of this variety by Major Cook, a colleague of his with The Commonwealth War Graves Commission in Albert, France from 1954. Major Cook was always a keen gardener, growing prize-winning vegetables with his grandfather, and was trained at Kew before serving in the Middle East during WWII. The beans were probably originally developed in Southampton in about 1900, by experimental horticulturist Alderman Vokes (Major Cook's grandfather). Produces pretty, purple-violet flowers followed by a huge crop of tender, stringless beans with a very fine flavour. Seed colour white with purple stripes.