Hi npeaphon, Welcome to The Seed Exchange! Please see addressing newbie and newer member issues for instructions on getting your Member Page email link set up so that you can easily be reached for trading. Happy Trading! chemocurl...aka Sue

California Wonder Pepper - 1928 (according to Southern Exposure Seed Company) Blue Lake Bean - Couldn't find an exact date, but an April 1996 article in Sunset Magazine by Lauren Swezey, entitled Is 'Blue Lake' still the best bean? notes: "In the early part of this century [20th century], 'Blue Lake' was the bean grown for canning in the Blue Lake District near Ukiah, California. In 1923, this variety arrived in Oregon, where much of the bean research has since been done."

foxy, try posting this on the discussions side of this forum. There has been some discussion on this very subject I just can't remember which thread. I don't think this side of the forum (conversations) is very active, you'll have better luck on the discussion side. I just came here by accident today. Annette

Oldpot, since you are from the U.K., you are probably accustomed to growing true runner beans (Phaseolus coccineus). "Hestia" is a bush (dwarf) version of the runner bean, and tends to perform poorly in the heat of our Midwest summers (I'm across the lake from you in Wisconsin). If you are close enough to the lake to get cool breezes, or if you can keep them alive until the weather cools, you still might get pods. If this is your first time growing runner beans here, you might be disappointed. I grow quite a few of them for seed, including "Tucomares Chocolate" and "Sunset Runner" this year. While I am able to get pods, they usually come late in the season, unless we have a mid-summer cool spell. The pods also tend to be shorter than when grown in cooler climates. I agree with Fusion, that bush varieties of P. vulgaris (referred to as "French beans" in the U.K.) are the best candidates for late sowing. But there are a few very fast pole varieties that might do well. "Goldmarie" (yellow) and "Early Riser" (green) would be at the top of my list. Both have large, flat pods, and bear heavily in about 60 days.