I have not had any edibility problems with Royalty, Royal Burgundy or Purple Queen. Purple Queen being the more productive. At the slightest cooking they become green beans. Never found any of the three to be tough or have strings. Some of the pole types can be quite stringy.

Thanks farmerdill. I'll look for some tomorrow when I'm be at the garden center.

I tried a purple bush bean called Amythyst last year and was very disappointed. They didn't compare to the Royal Burgundy, which is the standard purple bean around here. Royal Burgundy is not on any top ten list for flavour, but it holds very well on the plant and it freezes really well.

I am very happy with Amethyst, good yield of up to 3 kg per m^2, tender , never stringy, tastes good and freezes well.

I've been growing Purple Tepee. Very nice and the pods are held up above the plant, easy to pick. Good for all eating and freezing.

I'll go out on a limb and recommend a good flavored bean called
Red Swan. Get some seed and grow it and see if your wife is pleased.

DarJones

Firmer beans are usually the good freezers. I've yet to find a very tender bean that freezes well.

Regal Salad may be a tender purple podded bush variety. I've yet to find out, because my Regal Salad seed grew as a twining pole type to about 7 feet.

Gary

I was tempted. Thanks to Ed. So today I was at a nursery and bought a package of TRI-Color seeds, GREEN, YELLOW AND PURPLE. The last one is Burgundy. These are bush type, sold by Ed Hume company.

This post was edited by seysonn on Thu, Jul 4, 13 at 2:11

This morning's harvest of Dragon Tongue. I only planted about 10 beans originally, and I thought it wouldn't be enough, but the production has blown me away!

yes, they are mixed purple and yellow but stil...fantastic little bush bean, almost TOO easy to grow!...and great at the tender young stage if you stem them, but also can be matured for shelling ( I don't usually do that because I like them as steamed pods)

Dragon Tongue (aka Dragon Langerie) is my favorite bush bean. Tender, tasty, and superb production for a bush bean. It's just not a good freezer, though.

Gary

What color are the Dragon Tongue pods after they're cooked? Yellow?

Yes carol they turn yellow when cooked.

I'll add my vote for Royal Burgundy. I planted Blue Lake this year instead as my husband last year decided that Royal Burgundy "didn't do as well". Next year it's back to Royal Burgundy, I like my beans canned instead of frozen and they just hold up better to canning.

Annie

I grew purple pole beans awhile back and was disappointed when I discovered they turn green when cooked. Not sure the attraction now, except if they taste better than any of the green ones.

I haven't yet grown any purple ones, but I'm considering it for two reasons -- 1) mainly because I assume the beans will be easier to find (the green ones tend to hide in the bush), and 2) also, I've heard that they turn green when they're perfectly blanched, which is handy if you have a lot of them to freeze (though I understand some people don't blanch them nowadays). Oh, and 3) it sounds pretty cool.

Catherine, the kids in my family were fascinated by "Aunt Annie's Magic Beans", which changed color as if by magic, LOL. I think they stay firmer when canned, and so I like those better than the traditional green beans. Also, as Carol notes, I find them easier to pick, they stand out against the foliage. Plus, they're just cooler than plain old green beans. (grin)

This year I planted purple carrots, yellow carrots, white beets, blue potatoes, white tomatoes. I just like the surprise when something doesn't look like people expect...plus the purple carrots and the white tomatoes are exceptionall delicious, while the potatoes and yellow carrots still taste normal. I was a bit underwhelmed by the white beets, kind of like beets for people who don't particularly like beets.

Annie

Does anyone know of a purple podded Phaseolus bean that keeps its purple color when cooked?

Phila, a similar question was asked recently on IDIG. I posted this reply.

No currently available snap beans retain their color after cooking. I
have an experimental line from a cross I made in 2014 that does retain
color. It is several years from being stable. One parent is Fortex and
the other a small black bean with intense reddish black pigmentation. I
suspect that these beans carry a slightly different gene(s) to produce
anthocyanins because the color is red/purple instead of blue/purple like
other purple beans I've grown. Give me a few years to work on it and I
hope to be able to release a highly heat and disease tolerant bean with
eating quality like Fortex.

Sounds like another great project you are onto!

Also: What color are Spanish Musica pole bean seeds?

(Yes, I am trying to sort my saved seeds from last year and can't tell what's what. Especially white seeds!)

Thank you in advance <3

Trionfo Violetto are a kind of beige-tan and Spanish Musica are white.

Thanks sea_kangaroo. Now I have three candidate for the white seeds! I'll just plant them and be surprised (I don't have a lot of the white ones.) I moved the other bean ID question to its own thread (as you have already noticed).