how apropos, Friday is/was bean day ...

I think I'll just go and ... eat beans

Lovely!

Very pretty! I think beans have exceptionally pretty blossoms.

I'm growing cranberry beans, kidney beans, kabarika beans, pink half runners, bird's eye beans and just "plain old" green beans.

Annie

Corona, huh? Such pretty flowers. You say they are big sized? I once grew some very large broad beans that were the best. I wonder if they were Corona. ?

They're beautiful!

Sol

Excellent, Archie!!!

Very pretty!

Never thought I'd be wishing to get corona too.

I used to grow beans on a trellis for years. Very enjoyable and got lots of beans. My favorite were the purple Violetta beans, an Italian bean. Some years they would escape the trellis and grow up into the apple tree's lower branches. The beans were purple, but when cooked they turned green!

Those blossoms are so pure white. Pole beans don't do well in my short season, so it's bush beans for me. I'd throw some scarlet runner beans along the fence for pretty if the deer wouldn't eat them all.

We've got a big row of Tongue of Fire beans going.... they can up nicely, all fat and creamy in BBQ or Boston baked bean sauce or plain for chili. Whatever dries in the pod is next year's seed. Also growing a few dwarf French horticultural beans and I'm trying some Tiger's Eye. And a short row of green beans. The gkids have decided they don't like green beans so I don't have to can as many.

My favorite beans are Roma's. Alisande, I do love Rattlesnake beans. and it;s nice that someone else here likes them , too.

dcarch7, your bean plants are beautiful !

I'm confused as to what exactly are Corona beans. Corona beans are N. American "runner beans"? Like the common "Scarlet Runner" except they are like large Limas in size? And they were developed in Europe?

Wish I'd planted more beans, especially Coronas. Wait, there's still time!

Madonna

Mmm - Rattlesnake are my faves! Best tasting, IMPE, and they have pretty purple blossoms. It's not bean season here, unfortunately. I have to wait until Fall.

I don't grow beans of any sort, but my grandparents and mother did - their favorite was the "Greasy/Greazy" green bean. Farms stands that had it always sold out, too.

raee, I've never eaten greasy beans,but I know people who have and say they're very good. I know there are many varieties of heirloom beans called greasy beans.

Here are some good types of Greasy Beans, might be too late to plant this year since they do not produce quickly. Give a Greasy a try.

North Carolina Long Greasy Bean

Pink Tip Greasy Bean

Striped Hull Greasy Cut-short Bean

"I'm confused as to what exactly are Corona beans..."

From RanchoGordo, link, HERE

This is our first venture outside of the New World (although this bean's origins are clearly in Mexico) and we are happy to offer you this giant legume, created in Mesoamerica, bred in Italy and grown in Poland.

Martha Rose Shulman praised them recently in the New York Times: Royal Coronas are large white European runner beans that are similar to Greek gigandes but bigger, richer and sturdier. They are about twice the size of a lima bean and, unlike many other large white beans, the skin doesn’t slip off when you soak them.

Almost the size of a wine cork.

I agree dcarch. Lovely plants. I may have over-planted, (if that is possible), but might be a jungle. I'm about two weeks behind you.

I usually have to account for frost, hot, cold, wet temps all over the place. Now hot/dry. Thirsty plants when waist high. We like all beans so grow many varieties.

I over-sow due to loss, then thin if needed.

Peas were another disappointment this year but looking forward to the beans.

Royal Corona is a white flowered / white seeded European runner bean; there are many very similar regional varieties (including the Greek Gigandes, and Polish Piekny Jas). It is in the same species as the more commonly known Scarlet Runner.

Nearly all runner beans (P. coccineum) are pole, and prefer to grow in cooler climates. This makes them a good choice for gardeners in areas too cool for common beans (P. vulgaris) such as the U.K., or the U.S. Pacific Northwest... but they are poorly suited to areas with hot summers. They will flower outside their preferred range, but will not set pods in high temperatures. They are "iffy" to grow here for seed, but will set large numbers of pods if there is a 1-2 day cool spell in mid-summer. I am growing Gigandes this year, and they are languishing in our long streak of days in the upper 80's / low 90's F. A really good crop for attracting hummingbirds, though, worth growing for that reason alone IMO.

Thanks sleevendog and zeedman, I understand better now. When you google it, you get almost all food references, not garden references.

Thank you all for your wonderful and very useful and informative comments.

Let me share with you my way of growing beans.

I don't like to support climbing beans with poles or regular trellis. So I developed a system using suspension bridge engineering design principles.

Materials: ( I don't remember exact $$$ for each.)

2" x 4" x 10' pressure treated wood (2) - $10

60 lb bag concrete for base(2) -$7

galvanized wire rope (100') - $12

Turn buckle (3) -$10

Galvanized wire fence - $25.

Labor to build - one day for a 30 ft long x 8 ft high trellis.

What I want is a long lasting and economical system that is strong but not very visually distracting. Each year, the entire system can be re moved for rototilling the soil in 15 minutes and reinstalled in 20 minutes.

I have three of this system totaling almost 100 ft x 8 ft of trellises. Imagine what a messy garden I would have if I had done it with poles.

dcarch