Bean 'Art' and some info on growing

14 years ago

I had to harvest beans this morning, so decided to do a bit of "bean art" with them. The photo is taken in the garden (too bright will try again later) on top of my "work table". It works to show off the beans. The lineup:

Bountiful - a bush type, they are small beans, but very productive. Not well behaved tho, they climb any and everything.

Hilda - a pole Romano - my favorite for taste and easy growing. This bean keeps going through the heat and even produces in very early season for me. I have plants I started in March still producing.

Fagiolo - a yellow pole Romano - not as tasty as Hilda, but quite good and pretty. They don't like it hot tho. Spring planted beans never grew until this fall. New plants from August planting are producing sooner than May planting.

Provider - good bush green snap. Tasty and very determined to grow. Still not fond of our hot summer tho.

Black Jungle Butterbeans - Received these from Harry, a gardener in Texas. Very long season. They don't like it super hot in my garden - perhaps due to raised beds and insufficient rain. But they're producing now. Tasty!

Lima? - I think this is Henderson, can't find my seed packet to confirm. Bush Lima that seems to be the favorite of nasty aphids and ants. But the beans are tasty. Still searching for a better lima.

Pinkeye Purple Hull - A cowpea that did much better than my CA Black Eyed pea. Superior in taste. But they are not good eaten as "snaps" the BE'd peas were much better for that.

Rattlesnake - A pole snap bean that is probably our favorite. Easy to grow, reasonably heat tolerant, produces lots of beans when it's happy, they lose their purple streaks when cooked. Much easier to find for picking due to the streaks.

Rocdor - My all time favorite yellow wax bean. It's a bush which makes it a hassle to pick, but it's vigorous, very tender and tasty even when a bit mature. I wish these came in a pole variety.

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Comments (6)

aftermidnight Zone7b B.C. Canada
14 years ago
Cindy, not only are they laid out in an attractive way, it's a great picture to keep for identification, descriptions are helpful too, especially for those in the same zone as you. I'm always looking for and taking pictures of beans I'm interested in, you know what they say a picture is worth a thousand words.

Annette
n2xjk
14 years ago
Your unknown Lima doesn't look like Henderson to me. Henderson has smoother pods than that once the seeds plump. Might be Eastland.
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cindy_eatonton
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you Annette! That's exactly what I've been doing this year - taking pix of the beans to remember for the next year. I've taken lots of photos of the garden purely to help date when something was blooming/harvestable.

N2xjk - thank you! That may be correct as I tried a new variety this year. Eastland is one of the ones I was thinking of, but grrr can't find the tag under the beans or the packet to be certain!
carolync1
14 years ago
Great assortment. Bountiful plants sunburn here, and I can't get Provider to produce at all. I think of them as New England beans. Contender is a good early bean for the South, but turns leathery in cool fall weather.

Nice to know that Hilda has some heat tolerance. I can usually only do pole beans in spring or fall.

The best common beans I've found for seriously hot weather are some of the new commecial heat-tolerant ones like Brio and Festina. Romanette is the best relatively broad type I've found for heat. Romano Gold, surprisingly, is somewhat heat tolerant. Maxibel is the best filet type I've found for our climate, but you still have to harvest them before the really hot weather sets in.
GreenDean7
14 years ago
Thanks for a inspiring & informative listing.Would like your advice for my 1st garden so I can enjoy from soil to supper a couple of beans & peas.
cindy_eatonton
Original Author
14 years ago
Hi Dean!

Thanks for your kind words! I'd be happy to answer questions, but there's folks with way more knowledge than I have. My area behaves more like 8 than 7 - you probably have more flexibility in bean varieties than I do. I sure do love beans - just ate the last of my Black Jungle Butter beans that I picked about 10 days ago. :)