I enjoy growing green beans and eating them fresh and home canned. The typical variety that we grow is the Blue Lake Pole bean. They are fairly easy to grow and don’t have many strings if you pick them before they get too large- pick when smaller and tender. The plants need to be staked, watered regularly and weeded, but are not a fussy plant.
I have tried purple beans, which are fun to grow, and are purple in their pods, but don’t be surprised that when you cook them they turn out green. I’ve also grown wax beans, which taste about the same as green beans, and are helpful to have if you like the traditional ‘3 Bean Salad’.
This year, in addition to regular green beans, I’m trying some ‘dry beans’. These bean varieties can be eaten fresh, but they are intended to be dried out and stored as a dried bean. This bean is in turn a seed for the next year, or it is soaked over night and then cooked and used in a recipe. The dried beans have a wide variety of sizes and color combinations- unfortunately they lose their unique color when they are cooked.
I expect to have a variety of blooms and think the plants will be interesting.
