Doing bean searches in the last year or so I notice that the LEBN often comes up. There are some great bean websites out there for sure, like yours
@Blue-Jay, Bohnen Atlas, and Guy Dirix's Belle Epoque. But there's so many beans out there and only so many people growing them! So for the sake of future bean growers, I think it's a good idea to try & document some of the pod and blossom types where possible for future reference for bean growers. I often actually come to the forum and do searches to find stuff too. I even bought a new ruler for the job.
All my photos were taken in the evening, so lightning isn't perfect, but the colors, shape and length come through well enough to capture the bean's qualities. Most of what I took pictures of tonight were the longer beans, and a couple of random others.
'Royal City Cannery' pole bean. Turns out this is quite an old bean that was canned in Westminster BC as early as 1912. The cannery closed in 1930. I guess some of the descendants of the family who ran that cannery kept seeds of this bean over the years. It's actually kind of remarkable that this bean is still in existence, given that the bean was canned and not sold as a seed variety to the public. Very few people would have had some of the seeds, presumably.
'Quatre au Metre' pole bean. Given that 1 metre = 3.2 feet, I'd say that this bean is more like 1/3 Metre. Of course, that wouldn't roll of the tongue quite as well!
Whereas even the increasingly mature pods of Brita's Footlong are definitely not a foot long! When I first saw the pods I thought they were cowpeas, because of the thin shape and length when young- but I knew I never intentionally planted those.
'Stuttgarter Reisen' pole bean. I think that means 'Giant of Stuttgart'. My impression is the bean comes from Germany but was preserved and documented in Australia.
'Musica' pole bean. Not really a rare one, but it certainly is long. I've seen this bean also sold as 'Spanish Musica'.
'Muotathaler' pole bean
. This may be the longest purple bean I've ever grown. I have more purple varieties growing this year than I ever have, and I do quite like the resilience of those antho genes. They all seem to be distinct, each having a quality that sets it apart from the others. It would be hard to pick a favorite, though I must say 'Dow Purple Pod' seems to have a vigor that stands out. I'm guessing Muotathaler is from Switzerland, and named for the village there of the same name.
The pods of 'Purple Dove' are quite beautiful, they aren't as matte and some others. There is actually some shine to the pods, almost like a greasy bean. It's impressive and the health of the plants is very good despite the fact that they are quite crowded right now by the kale plants.
'Dinah's Climbing' pole bean. Not much info out there about this bean! HSL had it, that's all I can find.
'Donald Todd Half Runner' has pods that are stubby compared to those above, but they are quite fat. I thought this bean would produce pods that were like Mountain White Half Runner or Ranger, but no, these are different. Both the pods and the plants are much bigger, I'd be tempted to describe this as a pole bean due to the plants growing over 6 feet.
'Saxon' pole bean. A cranberry type I think. Found my first pods on the plants tonight. A local bean from Acme, Washington, according to Resilient Seeds.
I wanted to show you
@Blue-Jay how huge the network bean 'Aunt Maggie' (right side) is compared to others this year, but I couldn't get the top of the pole in the frame! And I couldn't back up anymore for perspective because my back was to the greenhouse and I needed to face the setting sun or this would be more blurry than it is. Anyway, this is SUCH a huge bean plant, it's incredible. Must be over 12 feet. Can't find any info online about it outside of your website, so this can be one more online entry for it. These Southern originating beans seem all exceptionally vigorous!
Blue Gold Star. Pole bean, the vines have really picked up in the last few weeks. Nice and healthy looking. I'm surprised how good the pod set is. I even harvested a few dried ones already.
