I am not fomd of wax beans, but there are several choices. some string, some stringless. 'Gold of Bacau' (Roma type),'Kentucky Wonder Wax' (has strings),Neckargold. Sandhill Preservation, Vermont Bean etc vends them.

I'm not so much looking for the stringless varieties but rather a climbing/pole vsriety of yellow wax bean. I used to get the Vermont Bean catalog but not for a long time so will research that place... thanks!

A new yellow bean for me this year is a Romano type - very good (and I love wax beans). It's Fagiolo (Meravigila di Venezia). They were excellent! And grow very nicely with the Rattlesnakes and other pole beans. The plants didn't like the high heat of summer here - I planted in May - they sort of hung in there until late August when they took off. Some that I planted in August are bearing heavily now.

concur: Fagiolo/Meravigila di Venezia/Marvel of Venice is another possibily similar to Gold of Bacau. Flat podded Roma type. Available from Seeds of Italy, Berton seeds,Lake Valley Seeds.

farmerdill: I planted the Kentucky Wonder pole green beans & also some Kentucky Wonder pole ?yellow bean seeds but all I got were the green pole beans .. nary a yellow one in the bunch! I grew some yellow wax bush beans one year that were delicious but wanted a pole variety for ease of picking. I string, cut & blanch the beans & freeze them in large baggies enough for a meal for the two of us .... so nice to eat & remember the past summer's harvest! I shall try looking up the Vermont Bean catalog & see what they have.

Kentucky Wonder Wax is the most popular yellow pole bean. If you got germination,it may be a heat problem. Neckagold is a newer European round podded variety. If you would like to try a flat pooded Italian style wax bean, Marvel of Venice or Gold of Bacau Gourmet Seeds Int has both Neckargold and Marvel of Venice. http://www.gourmetseed.com/product/PB31/Pole-Bean-Neckargold-ORGANIC.html
Sandhill Preservation has Neckargold, Kentucky Wonder Wax. Slow response time but excellent prices. http://www.sandhillpreservation.com/catalog/bean.html
Gold of Bacau, Fedco http://www.fedcoseeds.com/seeds/search.php?item=283&listname=Bean&page=1 Heirloom Seeds http://www.heirloomseeds.com/beans.htm

farmerdill: Good, I will try ordering the Ky. Wonder yellow wax pole beans for next season! The ? yellow pole Ky. Wonder I planted this year (in a separate cage x the Ky. Wonder green poles)germinated & grew fine... just had green-not yellow- beans!

Now, is there any benefit to composting the green vines left of the beans? I guess I might get some of the beans left on the vines to germinate next seaon & confuse things though! Do the bean vines (& peas) supply any nitrogen when ground up? With our original caliche/clay (good for making pottery!)soil I am obsessive about composting anything I can to improve it & so far it has done a good job over the years: today I spaded up the entire garden & the soil has become dark & loaded with earthworms (oh yes... a few of those darn cutworms that soon saw the bottom of my shoe!). Would the paper x the shredder add anything good to the soil? I usually save a bag full for starting the fireplace.

I incorporate everything I do not eat or give a way back into the soil. I rarely compost, but use the traditional plow down. All vegetation is helpful, bean pea vines probably do supply any more nitrogen than other green plants. The major nitrogen provision comes from the nodules on the roots. Paper is slow to decompose, but is roughly equivalent to decomposed wood when completely composted. I occasionally use it as mulch when I run short of leaves and grass clippings.

Thank you 'farmerdill'! I also do not 'compost' as such (here in our arid climate I didn't have much success when I did try it)but also just dig everything in the soil as it accumulates. Good to hear about the paper shreddings & kitchen scraps ... I can't knowingly toss them away if I can bury them in the garden. Problem sometimes is that the darn scraps grow in the garden again: I have nice large potatoes growing every Fall from plants that grew from the peelings I buried ... my 'second harvest' I call them!