More Thoughts While Weeding: Make room for pole beans

While bush beans are found in most home gardens, their climbing counterparts sometimes get a bad rap. Pole beans require support and tend to ramble and roam, needing considerable space — two reasons they are not suited for commercial production.

But that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve a spot in your garden, even if space is limited. Consider that with bush beans, it is often a case of feast or famine. These varieties blossom and produce a mass of beans all at once. A second wave generally appears a week later, but after that, yields slow to a trickle. Which is when pole beans really shine. Botanically speaking, pole and bush beans are members of the same species, but their growth characteristics are worlds apart. Pole beans mature and blossom over the course of the season, translating into an extended harvest. And pole beans generally tolerate heat better than most bush varieties, a real advantage during the dog days of August.