To- Densise: I'm sorry but I didn't seem to get you email...maybe gardenweb was being goofy and didn't forward it? Would you please resend the info if you are still interested? Shanoncl and Chris, Look for an email sometime soon Ohh and Chris, I would recommend nicking the outer coat so you can actually see a bit of the white internal embryo of the seed. I would use a wood/metal file or coping saw blade so water can actually get through the coat, although I haven't actually tried to sprout these guys last fall so this is all speculation based on other seeds with hard coats like lotus which need to be nicked...Sandpaper *may* work but I have a feeling it would take a while to actually get through. Dorisl-Did you read the book "the ghosts of evolution", If not I'd recommend it. It has all kinds of other fun plants like the Kentucky coffee bean tree which are missing their Pleistocene large mammal dispersers http://www.amazon.com/Ghosts-Evolution-Nonsensical-Ecological-Anachronisms/dp/0465005527 Anybody still interested in trading? I'd really like some new seeds :)

sorry i thought the kw were a hybrid, obviously i am wrong. as to the trap crop, i do NOT need a trap crop! the kw brought the jb TO the garden! well it seems that way because i seldom have jb problems in the garden. the 4 beans are all in the same area, it is not the soil. my garden is well established with rich soil. an explaination will help explain the differences in size. the old favorite variety (ofv) i grew for years was planted at the same time next to the kw. the ofv seeds are old (from 2000 or 2001) so germination was way behind the kw seeds which were new seed from johnny's this year. that ofv was just emerging from the soil when the kw had been up for 10-12 days and then the ofv grew slower than the kw. as to the 2 new polish varieties, they were planted 3 1/2 weeks later than those other 2. they came up ok, not slow like the ofv but quick like kw, but they are smaller due to a late start. this is why the kw are so much taller on the trellis, the other 3 are catching up, it is not the soil. and yes alfie, perhaps you are correct. maybe the jb are going to the kw because it is the highest of the 4 pole beans but maybe kw tastes better to them? at any rate, i noticed yesterday the damage is not progressing as fast as it had been. i will still compare how the kw produce and taste. i have lot of kw seeds left and if kw does ok despite this i'll grow it again. thanks for your help, tom

While I grow many bean species & varieties, I don't have Japanese beetles in my garden, so I haven't been able to evaluate varieties for resistance. Glancing at an APHIS map, it seems that my area of east-central Wisconsin is just west of their range... and since they are spreading, they will undoubtedly make their appearance soon. I'm not thrilled by the prospect. :-( Reading through the USDA data, it seems that traps for Japanese beetles were ineffective - they attracted more beetles than they killed. If the same holds true of trap crops, then planting a variety which is attractive to them (perhaps Kentucky Wonder?) may not be a good idea. The best treatment may be preventative: using milky spore on nearby grassy areas, to kill the larvae.

One pole(climbing vine) beans that I lik best is "Hyasinth". It starts flowering and producing beans from June till November(right now). It flowers and grows beans non-stop, and attracts bees. What is more is that it has the most beautiful fragrant purple flowers and beans. The beans can be harvested young or left to mature. The color and cluster of the beans also are very pretty. It is perhaps better than some mail box flowers or morning glories(which do not have fruits and the flowers are closed most of the time). This past summer I had another pole beans (orange color), Cypress vine, morning glories, passiflora Incarnata, all climbing on the same arch. I have been most happy with Hyasinth beans than the rest combined. I will not plant Cypress vine next year, although I have so much seeds of it. The passiflora will grow back and I will just plant Hyasinth Pole beans and maybe two wild morning glories(non-lobed leaves), which are much pretier than cultivated ones and flowers grow as a bunch. Back to climbing beans: My all time favorite:Hyasinth.