Most pole butterbeans do well in eastern Virginia. Choice depends on what type you prefer. Colored limas are usually more prolific under adverse conditions. Baby lima type; Florida Speckled Butterbean, Giant Lima; Christmas (Calico)
White baby lima; Sieva (Carolina), Willow Leaf, Alabama Black Eye. Big white Lima; King of the Garden. Ther are lots of more exotic varieties out that members of this group grow. I can only recommend the ones I have grown.

Search for Flintknappers thread on Black Jungle Butter beans, he might do a trade with you if he still has seed. If I were you and had the longer season and more heat, I'd grow King of the Garden. It's sold in stores, makes a big good tasting bean.

Thanks everyone for the help. I am looking forward to trying butter beans along with my yard longs. Silvia, I sent you an email.

DL

Silvia,
Thanks!!! I received the bean seeds and sent a Thank You email. I will post photos in 2012 when they are planted and begin to produce.
Cheers,
DL

Hi DL

I was in Monticello, that was the reason I did not see your email. I hope the seeds do well for you and looking forward to your pictures.
And when I was at Monticello, I met Rodger from this forum and hope to grow in the future his seeds.:)

Silvia

Silvia,

The BJBB are up -- not running yet but they look good. I did pre-sprout them in wet paper towels. I will post pictures when they get up and running. Thanks again for the seed.

Cheers,
DL

The best flavored butter bean I've eaten is the Speckled "Christmas" Variety, though they're not as prolific for me as other varieties. It takes a long time for them to mature and then the end of the season hits.

My favorite lima is "Hopi Pole", a small-seeded variety sent to me by Will Weaver. Multi-colored beans are orange, red, black, and many shades & combinations of those... really pretty. The flavor is rich, and while the beans lose some of their color when cooked, they keep their patterns. The pods form in very large clusters - sometimes packed so tightly that they are difficult to count - and the yield can be phenomenal. In the photo below, I cut off all growth above 24", pulled the vine, and stripped the leaves. Keep in mind, this is only about half of the plant, and I had already been harvesting for several weeks before this plant was pulled. Everything you see (except for my granddaughter) is pods:

Unfortunately, "Hopi Pole" also has the longest DTM of any of my limas. I need to start it several weeks early in pots, if I am to have any hope of harvesting in quantity. Even then, although I get some dry seed & a fairly decent harvest, roughly half of the immature pods are still hanging when frost kills the vines. Such a waste. :-( I heartily recommend the variety (and the other Hopi strains that are out there) for those with longer seasons.

In contrast, "Sieva" is the earliest pole lima that I grow. If I am able to plant early, it is the only one that will usually succeed direct-seeded. It has small white seeds, a very heavy yield, and tolerates cool weather. There are also all-red, and mottled red & white versions... I am growing the mottled version this year.

My favorite large-seeded lima is "King of the Garden". It is sweet & tender as a butterbean. I grew it every year when I lived in SoCal, and it is still what comes to mind when I hear "butterbean". While it is one of the earliest large limas, it is still a stretch for my climate. They would only succeed 1-2 years out of 10 if I direct seeded them... as transplants, I am guaranteed to get at least something (and some dry seed).

Looking back over all the previous posters, probably not many here would understand the need to use transplants for limas. Only Happyday is in that (icebound) boat with me. ;-)

"There are lots of more exotic varieties out that members of this group grow."

There is one more heirloom that I would recommend. "1880's Butterbean" is a little larger than "Sieva", with flat seeds that have light reddish-purple mottling, as opposed to the dark maroon mottling of "Christmas" and "Madagascar". It had a fairly heavy yield for me & is very attractive when cooked, but it has a milder flavor than most.

In my first cycle of lima growouts, I usually grew only 10-15 plants or so, often on plots of fairly low fertility. This meant that I seldom had enough after seed saving to do a serious evaluation. Beginning with this year, I am growing larger quantities (about 40 plants of "Mottled Sieva" this year) and look forward to some serious evaluations of yield. That, and (hopefully) filling my freezer.

This is my second year growing Hopi Pole
Thanks Zeedman
Also doing good are Florida Speckled,Carolina Red,Alabama Black.Lynch Collection and Alston Collection

Sieva is the tops in my opinion if you are going to go with a pole variety. If you are going to go with the bush type sieva if you can find it or Fordham is also an excellent choice. I live in central VA. and understand your growing season very well. The sieva is an heirloom variety going back to the founding fathers. It is a Carolina developed bean that performs excellent in Virginia. Both of these strains are tender sweet and buttery. Sieva's are hard to beat when grown,tended and picked when the time is right.

Lynch's Butterbeans. I was sent a few seeds from an American friend about 8 years ago. They have adapted well, giving me a huge harvest - in zone 5, Ontario, Canada! One word, though. the dry beans shatter very easily.

Shelley,

I saw your post regarding success with butterbeans in Zone 5 and am eager to learn more. I'm in Zone 5 in the eastern high plains of Colorado with a growing season (if lucky) of 3-4 months. I grow 4 varieties of bush beans (Tennessee Green Pod, Anasazi, Royal Burgundy and Pinto) with high yields and little maintenance other than watering. I would love to find a butterbean variety that could be grown here as well.

Would you have any spare seed from your Lynch's harvest that I could trade for or purchase?

tom

Tom, I just need a mailing address, no need to buy or trade with me. However, when you get to having a surplus in Lynch's Butterbeans, promise to share them with others, as I am doing, now, with you. It has taken 5 years for me to adapt this variety for my shorter season, and to reach a seed surplus. Always keep the first-to-dry beans for seed, in all the 5 colours, and enjoy the last to finish on your plate!

I have sent you a Message with my email address. I have other Pole beans you may be interested in - Skunk, Annie Jackson, Blauhilde, etc., all Heirlooms, all adapted to zone 5 (110 days for the latest maturity date. I have no Bush types at all. Also - Papa's Blue Flour Corn, which I grew for Bean vine supports.

I know it's a little OT, but what is the DTM for that corn? It must be fairly tall, if you are using it for bean supports. I'm planning to grow a flour corn next year, tentatively Painted Mountain.

Papa's Blue needs about 90 days, similar to Painted Mountain, it also was developed in Montana, and grows 4-5' tall. My original source was Baker Creek Seeds. This was my 4th year growing it. And yes, it was overwhelmed by Lynch's Butterbeans! However, the Corn was picked long before the weight of the beans affected the plants.

Shelley, I am interested in growing the Lynch’s Butterbean and could trade some of my butterbeans grown here in Ontario, zone 6b where we can get some very hot summers. This is the first year I have tried growing flint corn, looking forward to making polenta. How does using corn as supports compare with a string trellis?

I've sent you a Message. As far as using corn stalks, you'll want as tall a variety as possible, 6' minimum, and you would want to choose one that is dry-use. So if your Flint corn is a tall one, you are good to go!