I'd love to know this too.

you two ask the strangest questions. Do the obvious. Search the web.

You can start with Musica and Super Marconi.

DarJones

I assume that you meant "Romano" beans?

"Garafal Oro" is my favorite, but is not presently offered commercially. "Romano Pole" is widely available, see the link below for sources.

In addition to doing a basic web search (which can be somewhat overwhelming) I highly recommend using the Cornell website "Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners" when looking for sources. Once you have found a variety, its custom search function will point you to sources, weeding out most of the irrelevant search results you might get otherwise. If you look up "Romano bean" there, you will get a lot of choices.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pole Romano beans

That was a totally unnecessary comment fusion power. That's the first rude response I've ever gotten on this forum. We could ALL spend our time looking things up on the internet, but the purpose of these forums is to get conversation, personal experience, etc. You must be having a bad day.
Thanks for your kind response zeedman.

Nothing strange about asking experienced gardeners what varieties they find best.

If were just believed everything the seed companies told us we'd be believing that every single variety sold by every company in the world is the absolute BEST of its kind for flavor, earliness, length of harvest, disease resistance, and performance in every possible climate.

Obviously only a fool would believe that. So, not being fools, we ask other gardeners who've grown the stuff what they're *really* like.

Absolutely Garafal Oro.

Catherine,

These forums do not give nuance or perspective to anything we say. You presume I was being rude. Far from it. I was being mischievious if anything. I also gave you a couple of great bean varieties to search for.

While Garafal Oro is a great bean in some climates, it is not well adapted to heat and humidity and it is not very productive in shorter season climates. It is however a good choice for your zone 5.

If you had searched for SuperMarconi, you would have found www.growitalian.com which has several excellent beans in the general flavor range you seem to prefer. Had you searched for Musica, you would have found www.reneesgarden.com which has several excellent beans though Musica is the best of the bunch in the wide flat romano type.

I would grow 3/4 of a row of Musica and 1/4 of a row of Supermarconi. The intense flavor of Supermarconi is too intense for me, but if you add it to the Musica, the combination is terrific.

DarJones

I appreciate that info DarJones.

i'm growing one that for lack of a better name is grandma gina. i got the seeds several years ago from a poster, whose grandma brought the seeds with her from italy. they are a big long pole bean with very good flavor that stays tender for a long time. only problem is harvesting seeds in the U.P. is a dicey affair. since moving from the snow belt to the bean belt, i was down to my last 6 seeds. five of them sprouted, and are growing in the garden. i expect to replenish the seed supply as long as the weather cooperates.
darryl, the seeds are black, and a little bigger, and longer than my uncle steve beans.just in case you're wondering
musica is my other endangered variety. only 3 plants growing, and they were planted late. don't know if i'll get any seeds this year or not.

keith

lol keith. I have one called Ann's Chicken Farm that I have only one reproducing plant. I am waiting anxiously to get a few seed.

I have some musica if you need them.

I also have a couple of really good beans that you might be interested in growing. Post something next spring if you are interested.

DarJones

I am really appreciating the information you are all sharing. If I understand this right, romano beans are the ones that are a long oval or ellipse in cross section? rather than round like Kentucky wonders and Fortex?

I am growing Garafal Oro now and they have been very productive, now they are slowing down due to the heat but still producing. We have them in partial shade. I am trying to save a reasonable amount of seed and still pick fresh snaps. They are delicious indeed in all sorts of ways, steamed, sauteed, grilled, and pickled.

This year i am also Gold of bacau pole beans, which is a wax bean with the elliptical cross section instead or round like Kentucky pole wax. Wax romano? They were very early, they grow very long pods (somewhere in between a Garafal oro and a Fortex). In any case, they obviously prefer cooler weather, since the batch that we planted in very early spring did vell but stopped producing all together and died or are on their last leg when the heat came. The Kentucky wonders and Garafal oros are still producing in the heat, the KW in a sunnier spot. The Gold of Bacau i planted in Summer are OK but not doing as well, and the ones doing the best are under partial shade from a grapevine. Some of the northern folks might find it a great bean. I will grow it again for sure, but i will pick our cooler seasons and or shady areas. I don't think it is considered a roma though, and some folks find wax beans insipid. I prefer to think of them as tasting 'delicate'.