Parts of Michigan can still grow a fall crop, but only of short season varieties. I would suggest a good bush bean as a first choice, but it is worth trying a pole variety.

DarJones

Oldpot, since you are from the U.K., you are probably accustomed to growing true runner beans (Phaseolus coccineus). "Hestia" is a bush (dwarf) version of the runner bean, and tends to perform poorly in the heat of our Midwest summers (I'm across the lake from you in Wisconsin). If you are close enough to the lake to get cool breezes, or if you can keep them alive until the weather cools, you still might get pods.

If this is your first time growing runner beans here, you might be disappointed. I grow quite a few of them for seed, including "Tucomares Chocolate" and "Sunset Runner" this year. While I am able to get pods, they usually come late in the season, unless we have a mid-summer cool spell. The pods also tend to be shorter than when grown in cooler climates.

I agree with Fusion, that bush varieties of P. vulgaris (referred to as "French beans" in the U.K.) are the best candidates for late sowing. But there are a few very fast pole varieties that might do well. "Goldmarie" (yellow) and "Early Riser" (green) would be at the top of my list. Both have large, flat pods, and bear heavily in about 60 days.

hi fusion and zeedman
Ty for the ups with the Hestia plant yes i grown vegetables for 30 years in UK and had good crop of runner beans i did not know they where poor crop heat of our Midwest summers
this is first time i grow veg on a plot of land had a few pots with tomatoes in and herbs but got talking to the man who advertised (i got lucky)his land only 100 yds from aptswe live in and got a big garden and he gave me 45x 30ft land to start a veg patch if i helped him with his part he got th problems so i agreed every thing i grow well so far apart from the Hestia beans i got 2 sowing of French(green ) beansgoing even just started harvesting the first beans now sown another crop 4 days back they just coming up now tom( the man who i help) had got a few pole beans going so i se how they perform and go from there i think i miss now with them and see if i can keep the ones i got going somehow and hope for the best ty agion

dave

i am going to find out. i seeded 5 different varieties in plastic inserts because some of my pole beans didn't come up due to rainy weather. i would agree that it depends on location and variety. if you are in the U.P or northern mi, you can get frost in mid to late september. if you are in the southern part of the state i would go with an early variety such as fortex or anything in the 60-75 day range. this year the weather has been so freaky, its hard to predict how crops will fare. a lot of things are late. i planted all pole beans this year, due to space limitations. i would guess you will get beans, its a question of how many. bush beans would give you a bigger harvest at this stage of the game i think. what part of the state do you live?

keith

i am in lower michigan about 30 miles north of detriot
well i decided to leave it as the french benas i sown 5 days back or popping there heads out of the ground so i should be ok with them and hope i can salvage the hestia beand now i cut them back and took alot of the leafs off just have to see what happens

heres a blog of my garden this year

Here is a link that might be useful: daves first usa veg plot