by Thriving Mama

Created on: August 19, 2009

Green beans make a wonderful addition to a container garden. Graceful vines of a pole-bean plant can extend six to ten feet high on a trellis, pole or fence, while a stocky little bush bean plant will usually reach its peak at about two feet tall. Either can fit well in any container garden that has a full sun exposure. But in choosing to plant green beans, there are many options of colors and textures that gardeners often overlooked.

Beyond the choice of pole or bush green beans, there are innumerable types of each available to add additional character to a container garden. As the green bean plants blossom, preparing to produce beans, the leafy greens will be adorned with petite flowers that add a delicate beauty. While all are part of the green bean family, there are a number of bean types, both bush and pole, that can also add vibrant colors to the garden as well.

When considering pole beans, a basic Blue Lake pole bean or Kentucky Wonder pole bean will provide you with sturdy plants, small white blossoms with dark green beans perfect for any use. If you'd like to add a bit of color to your trellis, consider the climbing French bean type. French beans vines will be adorned with lavender blossoms and deep purple pods. Soleil beans will add long golden pods to your bean vines providing a beautiful color contrast at harvest time. It is said that both the purple and gold bean varieties are similar in taste and texture to their green counterparts and are gourmet ingredients in Europe.

If a bush bean better fits the landscape there is a plethora of options to add colors and textures to your garden. Blue Lake and Kentucky Wonder both provide bush varieties of green bean that will produce long, slender green pods. But if the garden needs some spicing up, consider one of these exotic hues. Many varieties of Wax beans will shine golden yellow at harvest time against the dark green leaves of the plant, while the Royalty Purple Pod beans will bring the deep violet to your garden. Planting Lima beans or a variety of dry beans like Pinto, Red Kidney or Black Turtle beans will add texture to the garden as the pods are intended to grow to accommodate the seeds inside, which are the intended produce for consumption.

So when considering green beans for the container garden, consider all of the colors and textures that this versatile bean family has to offer.

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