Edogava Zurunacki Namame

Bush/Dry. Productive variety from eastern Europe. 7 inch pods contain up to six and seven beans.

Emelia's Italian

Pole/Snap. Early and productive. This bean is named in honor of the lady who brought them to Nanaimo British Columbia, Canada from Italy in 1911. Mrs. Emelia Fuller immigrated to Canada from the town of St. Peitro in the provence of Udine in Northern Italy. This bean was originally distributed as "Auntie Vi’s". Annette Barley of Nanaimo had convinced an early seed seller of the bean that Emelia’s Italian was a better tribute. Annette sent me the bean in 2016 and told me that using it as a snap bean is the only way she has used the variety.

Empress

Pole/Lima. Large beans. 116 days this year in 2017 from time of planting to harvesting the first dry pods. The remainder of seed was harvested in the following 30 days. From the lima collection of Curt Burroughs of Memphis, Missouri. He believes it came possibly as an outcross of Christmas. Grew absolutely true to type for me.

Ernie's Big eye

Bush/Dry. Original bean from former SSE and Wanigan Associates member the late Ernest B. Dana of Etna, N.H. The bean dates back to the late '70's and was grown by John Withee's Wanigan bean network. Another variation of the Jacob's Cattle seed coat color pattern that Ernie loved so much. ("Special Note") Seed grown in my soil does not look like this, but might change back depending on your soil. The bean is soil sensitive and grown in my soil the seed tends to be mostly red with a very small amount of white.

Evening Moon

Semi-Runner/Dry. Discovered in my garden and named by me sometime around 1981. The colored area of the seed is a light flesh tone when first harvested, and will remain rather light for many years. Old seed stocks of this bean still remain in my possession from the early 80's.

Eye Of The Goat

Pole/Dry. Begins maturing dry seed in about 90 to 100 days. Said to make fairly decent snap beans when picked young. Otherwise there is no history of this bean known at this time.

Fagiolo Viola Di Assiago

Pole dry. Beautiful purple bean from an Italian bean trading friend in Volpiano, Italy. Six productive plants produced nearly two pounds of beans grown here in northern Illinois. Something wonderful in beans for purple lovers.

Falcon

Bush/Dry. Dry seed in about 90 days. These are the tiniest bean seeds I have ever seen. Many of the seeds have a figure around the eye that looks just like a silhouette of a bird, and so crisply defined.

Falsetti

Pole/Dry. Good size pale pink rounded seeds with black or dark gray speckles. Productive variety brought back from Serra Aiella in the Consenza province of Calabria, Italy in the 1940’s. by a Gaetono Falsetti.

Fasold

Pole/Snap. Productive plants. Early with long, thin, tender, stringless green pods up to 9 inches in length. I gave seeds to my neighbor and dentist. The bean became an instant hit with these people.

Faulkner’s Cornfield

Pole/Snap/Cutshort. Vigorous productive plants with lots of pods. Dried beans are often crowded in their pods so close that the seed ends are flattened instead of rounded.

Flor De Junio

Pole/Dry. Translates to June Flower. Received from an Iowa grower who purchased them in a market in Guadalajara, Mexico. 4 to 5 inch pods with up to 7 beans per pod. The beans are used to make Mexican dishes like Frijoles Charros. Can also be mashed into a creamy texture served with Salsa or used as a bean dip.

Florida Speckled

Pole/Lima. About 100 days to the beginning of first dry pods. Tolerant to heat and humidity. Heavy producer with vigorous growing vines. Considered to be one of the most suitable of the Limas or butterbeans for the south. This variety does well here in Illinois summers. A variety that is probably over 400 years old.

Flossie Powell

Pole/Lima. Very productive. A planting of 4 seeds produced slightly over one pound of beans here in 2018. Dried it's entire crop of dry beans before our first killing frost in October. Introduced into the Seed Savers Exchange, in the 1980’s by Harold R. Martin of Hopkinsville, KY who got it from an aunt named Ethel Martin. Ethel Martin, in turn, received her start of seed from Flossie Powell in 1922.

Forelle Fliederfarben

Pole/Dry. Very productive Many rounded shaped beans acquired from European growers. The seed is similar in appearance to one grown in the U.K. called Cranberry Lilac. When grown in some soils the color can tend more towards gray. Originally acquired this bean from a grower in Austria.

Fort Portal Jade

Semi-Runner/Dry. An interesting and beautiful shading of blueish green. Sourced from a gardener in Groningen, Netherlands who obtained the bean from a fellow named Guy Dirix in Belgium. The beans origin is Fort Portal, Uganda. Originally discovered and named by an American seed collector Joseph Simcox. The local people in Uganda that had grown the variety simply called it a bean.

Freckles

Bush/Dry. 85 days to first dry seed. Seeds are smaller than and patterned similarly to Jacobs Cattle, however white area on the seed is greater and the red spots on the white background is much finer.

Fruhe Goldbohne

Bush Dry. Compact 12 inch tall plants with 4.5 inch green pods. Beautiful striking in appearance, almost luminous. German dry bean that interprets as "Early Gold Bean. My seed was originally sourced from a bean trading friend in Austria.

Ganymede

Pole/Lima. 100+ dry days. Very productive strong vigorous growing vines. I had grown this bean as far back as the early 80's. Received it from an unlisted SSE member by the name of E.P. Griggs who didn't know it's name. After seeing pictures in National Geographics magazine of the planet Jupiter and it's moon system. I named the bean after the Jovian moon Ganymede. Now after 30 years the name seems to have stuck.

Ga Ga Hut

Pole, short climber to about six feet. Rapid maturing very productive plants produced first dry pods in about 70 days in my 2016 northern Illinois summer. Produced a second smaller flush of pods of quality dry seed in another 40 days. Native American version, of a pinto.

Genesis

Pole Lima. From the collection of Curt Burroughs of Memphis, Missouri. He acquired the bean from the USDA seed bank in Pullman Washington. Not much is known about this bean as the seed bank gave little information except upon growing in northern Illinois this summer of 2017 it grew quite well. The plants received slight shade during part of the day. Yet to be tested in a full sunlight enviornment.

George's Bean

Pole/Dry. Sourced for me during the winter of 2013 by Harriet Mella of Austria from Deaflora seeds in Germany. An old variety from England used typically for baked beans.

Giant Nilgiri

Pole/Dry. Large size beans 3 quarters of an inch long. The variety originates from the Nilgiri mountains in the Indian state of Tmail Nadu, also known as the Blue Mountains.

Giant Stringless Greenpod

Bush/Snap. Tall plants over two feet in height. Long pods somewhat variable, long and stringless. One of the most popularly grown snap beans of the early twentieth century. Bred by Calvin Keeney the father of the stringless bean, and introduced by Johnson & Stokes Seed Company in 1898.

Giele Waldbeantsje

Bush/Dry. Known in the Netherlands as the Yellow Forest bean. This productive Friesian heirloom has been grown for countless generations.

Gila River

Pole/Dry. 100+ days for dry seed. The story I had read on this variety was that it was found at a native American site in a cave along the Gila river in the southwest. Seeds were found in a pottery jar sealed with pine sap. The site was dated at 1,500 years ago. The temperature and humidity level never fluctuated in all those years keeping the seed viable. Amazing if it's true. There was also a black and white bean just like it called Gila River, and one patterned like this too but more in a true red called Gila. I had grown both of those beans back in the early 1980's as an early member of the Seed Savers Exchange.

Gillenwater

Semi Runner Dry. 100 Days to first dry pods. Productive plants and a little bit later maturing than most of my dry beans that I grow. Seedcoat color and pattern like many horticultural beans. A West Virginia heirloom.

Gill's Delicious Giant

Pole/Snap. A.K.A. Delicious Giant. 70 days for snaps and 100 days for dry seed. Introduced by the Gill Brothers Seed Company of Portland, Oregon in 1925. A cross between Oregon Giant and Kentucky Wonder. Quite unusual in size of pods and pod clusters. Earlier more prolific, and pods are longer and more slender than those of Oregon Giant.

Gold Of Bacau

Pole/Snap. Romanian variety. Prolific producer of 6 to 10 inch flattened yellow pods. Said to have a sweetflavor and cunchy texture. Pods remain stringless and tender on the vine longer than most varietes. Pickable snaps can be harvested in about 60 to 70 days. Seeds can be used for soup or baked beans.

Goldener Regen

Pole/Dry. Another of several varieties sourced for me during the winter of 2013 by Harriet Mella of Austria from Deaflora seeds in Germany.

Golden Bear Lake

Bush/Dry. Very productive light toned beans of good quality. From the Robert Lobitz legacy material I had obtained in 2015 from a former member of the Seed Savers Exchange. This might have been a bean that Robert would have work on had he lived many more years past 2006. About 85 days to begining of dry pods then the remainder of it's pods dry sequentially over about 3 weeks.

Golden Lima

Pole/Dry. 90 or more days to dry seed. This is actually not a lima variety, but it's flattened seed makes it somewhat resemble a lima.

Golden Valley

Bush/Dry. Approximately 85 days to first dry pods. Another of the Robert Lobitz named and introduced varieties. Robert having been a member of the Seed Savers Exchange based in Decroah, Iowa. First released this bean to the public through the Seed Savers Exchange yearbook in the early 2000's. Productive plants grow to about 18 inches in height. 6 inch solid green pods average 5 seeds per pod.

Good Mother Stallard

Pole/Dry. 95+ days to dry seed. Strong climber to about 6 feet. Very attractive seed. Stewed beans have a reported creamy texture. This heirloom bean is also resistant to BCMV the mosaic virus. The bean dates back to the 1930's. Donated to John Withee's Wanigan Associates sometime the late 1970's or early 80's. John named the bean after his donor Carrie Belle Stallard of Wise county Virginia.

Graines de Cafe

Pole/Dry. Sent to me as a gift by an Austrian gardener Harriet Mella. It's name basically translates into English as Coffee Beans. Very productive. The growing of just 8 plants in 2014 produced nearly 2 pounds (910 grams) of the beautiful beans.

Grandma's Shell

Bush productive red horticultural variety grows without runners. Large plump oval dark red seed mottled with light tan. Dries pods a little later than most early dry bean types. John Withee listed this bean in his Wanigan Associates catalog in the 1970's. The first copy of which I had seen in 1978. John listed his source for the bean in his bean collection notes as June Bester of Butler, Pennsylvania.

Gray Mountain

Pole/Dry. Very productive bean that began it’s development in my 2019 garden. It’s seed mother is a Zebra variety. Produces bountiful amounts of dark gray beans.

Great Lakes Special

Bush/Dry. First dry pods in about 90 days. Large wide productive plants 22 inches in height. A Robert Lobitz named and introduced variety.

Greek Cypriot

Pole/Snap. I don't know anything of this beans history at this point in time. I can tell you that it was sent to me by a Candian gardener who lives on Victoria Island. This lady only sends me beans that she feels are really good.

Green Savage

Pole Green Snap. Bred by the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station in Baton Rouge and released by Reuter Seed Co. in 1949. A cross between Savage Wonder and Canfreezer. It's a southern adapted bean noted for being stringless, high yielding and high quality and straight podded with bean rust resistance. Grew outstandingly well here in my 2018 northern Illinois garden.

Haldaos Grandos

Pole/Dry. Might be a Spanish bean that world traveler Joseph Simcox brought back from Spain. Acquired from a New York state grower in 2019. The bean is productive.

Hanna Hank

Pole/Snap. 70 to 80 days to first snaps. Acquired this bean from a Seeds Of Diversity Canada member from London, Ontario who sourced the variety from Hanna Hank's family. Upon seeing photos of this seed on various websites the bean struck me as to how similar it looked to a bean John Withee carried in his Wanigan catalog called Ramshorn which I had also grown in the early 80's.

Harmony

Bush/Dry. Carnberry type bean that I had stablized from a packet of outcrossed beans from Will Bonsall (Scattered Seed Project) Industry, Maine in 2015. I named this bean in 2020 after the samll rural town of Harmony, Illinois. The town is located in the county where I live.

Hashuli

Pole/Dry. The variety was purchased in a market in Tbilisi, Georgia by American seed and plant collector Joseph Simcox (The Botanical Explorer). The seller had told Joseph that the bean came from a village called Hashuli hence the name. The bean is a very uncommon form even for Georgia.

Hawick

Bush Dry. First dry pods in about 90 days. Blossom white. Very productive plants that produce 4.5 inch pods. An original bean named and introduced through the Seed Savers Exchange yearbook by the late Robert Lobitz of Paynesville, Minnesota. He was an early member of the Seed Savers Exchange since the early 1980's. The bean does appear in the 2001 SSE yearbook. Named after the village of Hawick, Minnesota located southwest of Paynesville in Kandiyohi county along state highway 23.

Hebron

Bush/Dry. A new bean I've named and had my eye on for about five years, seems stable enough to offer to bean lovers. This bean is a distant relative of White Robin that I started growing in 2012.

Headrick Greasy Cutshort

Pole/Greasy. Highly productive green podded. Greasy beans are eaten green but when the pods are plump with beans. The bean was originally found in the floor cracks in an old house in Harlan County Kentucky.

Heiling's Bean

Bush/Dry. I have loved this bean since first seeing it on a trip to my brother's house in Browerville, Minnesota, October 1978. Grown in their garden that summer. They got it from a neighbor. A sweet lady by the name of Kate Heiling. Kate didn't remember what it was called. So I named it Heiling's Bean. For a bush variety I have seen other round white beans close in size, but this one always seems just a bit larger.

Hemelvaartboontje

Pole/Dry. A gift from a gardener in Germany to my Austrian friend Harriet Mella, and then gifted to me. This bean has been known in Australia for over a century.

Hiawatha

Pole/Dry. 93 days to first dry seeds. Early for a pole variety. Very productive. Began as an outcross and named by me. Now seems stable. Good for soups and baked bean dishes.

Hidatsa Shield Figure

Pole/Dry. Vines grow from 8 to 9 feet and the yields are abundant. First dry pods in about 90 days with large beans. A North Dakota bean having been grown by the Hidatsa people of the Missouri River Valley. A very productive piece of history to be enjoyed for it's robust flavor, in soups, stews, and various culinary creations. A popular variety among gardeners with shorter growing seasons.

Italian

Pole/Snap. Productive early green podded bean. Tender and stringless. An Iowa grower told me this was their go to snap bean for over ten years. Seeds mature in about 95 days.

Holy Bean

Pole/Snap/Dry? The seedcoat is very similar to Leslie Tenderpod. This climber comes to me via the Central Tree Crops Research Trust in New Zealand from their New Zealand Bean Project. Thanks to Mark Christensen, Research Director of the Trust for being a willing bean swapper.

Hopi Black

Pole/Dry. Vines to 5 feet, very productive. Small black seed, can be used for dye, extremely drought resistant, Desert variety from the American Southwest. Said to not need watering. Small beans cook quickly and are quite tasty. Often a small seeded variety will out produce larger seeded beans in total volume.

Horn Speckled

Pole/Lima. 110+ days to first dry seeds. Short pods not as flattened as most limas. Plants are a prolific bearer of pods. I had grown this variety in the 1980's. Obtained it from a SSE member, but never kept of a record of who it was from.

Horsehead

Bush/Dry. Blossom: White. 80+ days for dry seed. Productive sprawling plants which are drought tolerant with round pods that are easy to hand shell. This one was originally acquired from the Henry Doubleday Research Association in the United Kingdom around 1980. Today HDRA is known as Garden Organic.