Make your choiuce of beans based on whether you want to grow a pole or a bush bean. Both the Blue Lake and the Kentucky Wonder are good. The Contender is a good bush bean for conventional southern style beans. Good producer. If your taste runs to Filet or lightly steamed bean dishes, Some of the newer cultivars are better.
Baker Creek will be a good choice for both beans and the lettuce.

I would rather try a pole, but taste is most important.With your description of Contender, sounds like it might be a good one to try.
Tammy

Kentucky Wonder

EG

If you don't mind using hybrids, I have had lots of luck with the Fortex pole bean. They stay tender, even when they start to get thicker/older on the plant, and have great yields.

I haven't tried any of the ones you've listed, however, so if you are set on it being one of those, I'm afraid I'm no help. Good luck! Deciding on which seeds to order can be an agonizing process, and I look forward to it every year. :)

Jill

Agree will jill above. If you read through the many current and previous discussions here on green beans you'll find that Fortex consistently tops the list.

The cheapest place to get many varieties of lettuce including the ones you mention is any local store that sells seeds in the spring - including Walmart.

Dave

Contender is a very good bush bean for traditional southern style. No bush bean matches poles beans prepared in the same manner. Fortex is a long slim pole bean that is stringless. Have not grown it so I can't comment on flavor. It is open pollinated, so need for hybrid phobia. Emerite is another that has gotten some attention in recent years. All P. vulgaris are open pollinated, no hybrids available altho many new cultivars are patented (PVP)

I have not grown Contender so can't comment, but have grown Fortex, Kentucky Blue, Blue Lake, Kentucky Wonder etc. The blue/kentucky beans are good beans no doubt, but they all suffer from the same problem. You either pick them *very* regularly (every other day at least) or you end up with tough beans with a noticeable string.

That is where Fortex really shines. It is able to be harvested at nearly any stage from just a skinny little 3" long thing to a 7, 8, 9 inch, thicker pod that remains tender and stringless.

In terms of flavor I find Fortex very similar to the 'older' green beans although I am rarely accused of having a sophisticated set of taste buds ;)

Not sure why I thought Fortex was hybrid. But then I'm at work and don't have the packet with me. Thanks for clearing that up! :)

Good! I almost panicked when I read that Fortex was a hybrid because I just saved seed! I thought P. vulgaris were not hybrids ever, so thanks to all for the clarification. OK, yes, keep saving those seeds. I do get a few mongrels here and there but it is easy to tell, the seeds will look different.

Just a comment on the green bean varieties. I find Kentucky Wonder as tasty as Fortex. True that the optimal size for picking is a lot smaller, but then it is continuously producing from early spring to....now (I am no longer picking, I am keeping the rest of the production for seeds now) and nothing attacks them. The Fortex seem prone to being attacked by black aphids and have a much narrower thermal range where they go into happy full pod production. They do get these HUGE pods that are so tender and without strings, I agree. However, KW will produce from the 50F to the 100F no kidding. They do not have their maximum production at 50F or 100F, but they still form pods.

I have not tried Contender yet.

Have other folks noticed this with KW? I wonder if they got adapted to our large night/day thermal swings, since I have been saving seed now for several generations. They also seem to stay pretty pure (no mongrels), even though I grow other P. vulgaris near them.

I have been growing beans at the present location for the past 35 years. Lots of varieties have been tried but I keep returning to Emerite...just haven't found anything better or as good. Would like to find a yellow pole bean which could match its merits.

Many years ago I tried Contender bush beans after experimenting with a few other bush types. I was then, and still am now, so pleased with Contender that I haven't yet decided to experiment with other cultivars.

I've tried many and my favorite for a few years now is top crop.

Thanks for all your thoughts on the matter. It seems there are many diverse opions. I may have to pick out small quantities of 2 or 3 to try.I am planning on putting in a few small raised beds for planting next yr.
Tammy

I like bush beans because they are heavier producers. I live fairly close to the West Virginia border in Ohio and
Top Crop has been my choice for decades. It always sells out fast here, because it seems to be the most popular in this area. It doesn't string up like KW does when it gets a little more mature. Tastes great. Heavy yields. I garden not only for fresh but to can for winter. Having a good heavy producer is important to me for that reason.

I sure wouldn't complain about having to pick once a week, because that means I have plenty of them. LOL. Sometimes they bear so heavily I use them to feed the chickens when I don't feel like canning.

Thanks Calliope, You arent too far from me. I live 45 min east of parkersburg,WV and Ohio Border.
Tammy

I like "Royalty Purple Pod" You can miss some and even when they're 10 inches long they are still tender. They are a bush plant and can be used for dry beans as well. They have a built in blanching indicator and turn green when ready to cool and freeze. I have heard raves about Fortex. Many people here in New England like Provider and Romano as well.

I really like the purple pole beans, too. I've had no luck with blue lake or Kentucky wonder, but violet podded stringless is always hardy, productive and tasty. They pump out beans for me from July into October with almost no lull in production.