Papa de Rolla

Pole/Dry. 90+ days to dry seed. A.K.A. "Dove's Breast" An heirloom from Portugal. Short 3.5 to 4.5 foot vines. 3 to 6 seeds per pod. Reportedly makes a good soup bean.

Paul Bunyan Giant

Pole snap. About 11 years ago when the Heritage Food Crops Research Trust in New Zealand was called Central Tree Crops Research Trust. They had a project called The New Zealand Bean Project from which I obtained this bean. Not to be confused with Oregon Giant. They are not the same beans.

Pawnee

Bush/Dry. 90 days to first dry pods. Very clean shelling, productive on upright plants without runners. Found in my garden & named by me in 1979. Listed the bean in the '82 and '83 SSE yearbook. Discovered the bean is sold commercially. Terrior Seeds told me their source seed was Seed Savers. A brief reference in a bean book I published in 1980 called "Hill Of Beans", a copy of which can be viewed at SSE's Heritage Farm Library, and on this website.

Peinsipps Zweifarbige

Pole/Dry. Another of the beautiful bean varieties acquired in trade from my Austrian gardening friend Harriet Mella.

Pea Bean Turkey

Pole/Dry. Productive variety that produces high quality seed crops. My seed stock is decended from beans that were purchased in Turkey by a fellow from the Netherlands obtained by a Pennsylvania grower and passed on to me. I have been told there is a bean exactly like this that has been grown in the UK for about 400 years called Pea Bean with the same looking pods, plants and blossoms.

Penland Family

Pole/Snap. Productive plants that climb to over 6 feet producing 4.50 to 6 x 1/2 inch long pods. The variety original comes from Gene Moore of Knoxville, Tennessee in 1864.

Petit Gris

Pole/Dry. This lovely variety comes to me by the way of Guy Dirix who lives in Belgium. An heirloom from Normandy, France. Very productive plants become loaded with short 4 inch round pods.

Ping Zebra

Pole/Lima. Very productive loaded with pods. This variety takes a long season to mature it's dry seed in my climate. Often I am harvesting the last pods on the day we expect a killing frost in my hardiness zone 5. You can presprout the beans in about 3 to 4 days and plant as early as you think you can. Small seeded but beautiful. Variety originates in China. Given to me by world traveler and rare seed and plant collector Joseph Simcox. (The Botanical Explorer).

Pink

Semi-Runner/Dry. 85 days to dry beans. Viney sprawling plants are very productive of 4 inch pods filled with 4 to 5 light pink seeds. Good in chili or soups.

Pink Emperor

Bush/Dry. 95 days to first dry pods. This bean is one of six segregations I found in my African Premier grow out in 2014 having worked with it for the last six years. African Premier is it's seed grandmother. Plants are very productive, large and massive for a bush plant of over 20 inches tall. Pods 7 to 8 inches long are commonly found among it's foliage. Pods are longer and straighter than those of African Premier. Seeds are about kidney bean size. 25 seeds would produce 2 to 2.5 pounds of these beans.

Pink Fog

Semi-Runner/Dry. Origin is in the U.S.A. Acquired from the bean collection of Joseph Simcox (The Botanical Explorer).

Pink Panther

Bush dry grows without runners. First dry pods in about 85 days. Very productive plants. The bean comes to me from my Austrian bean friend in Leibenfels Harriet Mella. Bred by Erich Gerencser of Styria, Austria. The bean also produces on occassion a beautiful reverse of it's colors where the pinkish base color is replaced by red with it's typical white on the tip of the seed.

Pink Trout

Bush dry grows without runners. First dry pods in about 85 days. Productive plants grow to about 18 inches tall. I had originally grown this bean in the early 1980's as a gift from former SSE member the late Ernest B. Dana of Etna, N.H. The beans seed coat coloring can look a bit different depending the soil in which it's grown. The ratio of red to white varies.

Piros Feher

Semi-Runner/Dry. 90+ days for dry beans. Viney productive plants that will climb a support. Produce 3.5 to 5 inch smooth pods containing 3 to 5 short plump seeds. A Hungarian variety pronounced Pee-Rosh-Fay-hair. An attractive seed that seems to closely mimic the Jacob's Cattle seedcoat pattern.

Plentiful

Bush Snap. 55 days to snaps and 85 days to first dry pods. Widely adapted. Bred and introduced by the Ferry-Morse Seed Company of Detroit, Michigan in 1938. Resistant to some forms of rust. Pods are oval, fleshy, dark green, and straight.

Poletschka

Pole Dry. Best used as a dry bean but can be used as a snap bean if picked young. 108 days to dry seed. Fairly vigorous climber to 6 feet. 4.25 inch long round green pods wrinkle moderately and develop constrictions revealing the places where the seeds have formed. The variety originates in the native village of Kostilnyky in Western Ukraine. My donor for this variety was a Danish Seed Saver Lila Towle from Tjele, Denmark.

Polka Dot

Bush/Dry. Productive 20 inch tall plants produced it's first dry oval pod here in 2018 in 74 days. Remainder of the dry pods were harvested within three weeks. Bred by J.R. Hepler horticultural professor and plant breeder at the university of New Hampshire. His son Billy who started a small seed company, The Billy Hepler Seed Co. at the age of 12. Billy sold this bean begining sometime around 1949 and into the early 1950's. Carried by John Withee in his Wanigan Associates catalog in the late 1970's where I encountered the bean for the first time in 1978.

Possum Trot

Bush dry. Early, blossom color pink. First dry pod in 81 days. Dried it's entire pod set in three weeks. Began as a segregation of a cranberry type bean in 2014. I've grown and selected this bean for 5 seasons to bring it to what is now a stable and very productive variety. I've named the bean from a large sign I saw over a booth in an antique and collectibles shop. It just struck me as a name for a bean.

Prefontaine

Bush/Dry. 110 days to first dry pods. Late but does produce it's seed crop within my frost free period in my hardiness zone 5 climate. Tall 24 inch plants. Holds it's seed coat color and pattern in our hot summer weather unlike Jacob's Cattle which will turn nearly all red. Donated to the USDA in 1982 by Johnny's Selected Seeds in the days of Rob Johnston but never listed in any of Johnny's catalogs.

Prince Purple

Bush/Dry Early and productive. 85 days to first dry 4-5.5 inch pods. Original bean named and introduced through the Seed Savers Exchange by the late Robert Lobitz of Paynesville, Minnesota around 2001.

Princess Rose

Bush/Dry Early and productive. 85 days to first dry 4-5.5 inch pods. Original bean named and introduced through the Seed Savers Exchange by the late Robert Lobitz of Paynesville, Minnesota around 2001.

Provider

Bush/Snap. 50 days to snaps. Introduced to the public in 1963. Developed by the USDA Vegetable Breeding Lab in Charleston, South Carolina. Parentage: Valentine, Logan, Ashley Wax, Asgrow Stringless Greenpod, and Commodore. Plants bear heavy yields 6 inch stringless round green pods. Widely adapted. Another of my all time favorites snap varieties.

Purple Amazon

Bush purple podded snap. 85 days. Very large plant with large leaves. It has been said by some to be the late SSE member Robert Lobitz's best purple podded bean.

Purple Eye

Pole/Lima. 65 days to shell stage, and 100+ for dry beans. Plants are very productive and strong climbers. These do very well here in Illinois. Producing and abundance of seed.

Purple Jester

Prostrate/Dry. 105+ days to dry seed. This one came out of a grow out of "Orca" in 2011. It's either a cross, mutation or maybe that my Orca just displayed a lighter color and turned purple in 2011. Has a prostrate growth habit being runnerless, sprawling and covering an area of ground.

Purple Stardust

Bush/Dry. 90 days to first dry seed. 5 to 6 inch pods. Large productive plants. This bean is colored and patterned similar to one called Mrociumere, but the seed of Purple Stardust is heavier, shorter, more oval and a bit wider. The pods are also wider and shorter. An original named and introduced variety by the late SSE member Robert Lobitz.

Puregold Wax

Bush/Snap/Wax. Bred by the Rogers Brothers Seed Company of Idaho Falls, Idaho and released in 1947. Dark foliage and golden yellow pods. That are round, straight, smooth, and stringless. Resistant to bean mosaic virus1 and 15. Tolerance to curly top. Widely adapted. Parentage is Brittle Wax x Wisconsin Hybrid Wax 536.

PXBT-PP-97B-OOH

Semi-Runner/Dry. Very productive viney sprawling plants that bear 4 inch pods. A bean with a number for a name. Actually this bean is an original un-named bean from the late Robert Lobitz of Paynesville, Minnesota. This code number was given to this bean by Robert.

Ram's Horn

Pole/Snap. Large oval pods streaked with purple 8 to 10 inches (20 to 25 cm) long. Huge heavy vigorous plants that can climb to 12 feet or more, and needs strong support. Seed is medium kidney shaped mouse gray with a slight buff tan undercolor, black stripes and black eye ring. This bean was part of John Withee's Wanigan collection. One I had grown before back in the early 80's. Discovered this bean being grown by Jaanes Aalders in the Netherlands.

Ranger

Semi-Runner/Snap. Bred by Asgrow Seed Company in 1947. Widely Adapted. 56 days to snaps. Pods 5" x 3/8". Plants spreading, with short runners, very productive. Resistant to common bean mosaic and to powdery mildew. Pods round, mostly straight, stringless, silvery green, free from fiber.

Rattlesnake

Pole/Snap. Flavorful productive snap bean. Produces 8-10 inch green pods with purple streaks and speckles. Vigorus vines will keep producing as long as you keep the vines picked. Does well in hot humid, and droughty weather. Another favorite from the garden.

Reade Krobbe

Bush dry bean. Another Friesian heirloom having been grown a long time in the Netherlands. The Red Beetle looks quite similar to an English variety called Early Warwick. In the way of gardening the Brits and the Dutch hold a lot in common.

Red Calico

Pole/Lima 110+ days to dry seed. Red flat seeds with dark purple markings. Plants are prolific producers of pods and seed. Once the plants seed has become mature enough the drying period progresses fairly rapidly. This variety has been around in America possibly for several hundred years.

Red Cattle

Bush/Dry. 85 days to first dry pods. Large productive plants without runners. Originates in the south of France.

Red Eagle

Bush dry bean. Productive Red Kidney bean. First dry 5 to 6 inch pods close to 100 days. Large plants with dark green foliage. 10 plants produced just over one pound of beans. An original bean named by Robert Lobitz.

Red Spotted Delight

Semi Runner dry bean. Another of the original Robert Lobitz varieties. Robert introduced this bean through the Seed Savers Exhange yearbook in 2006. Large productive plants that will climb 4 feet or more. Pods are 5.75 to 7 inches long. Seeds will be slightly variable in pattern. Some beans have spotting in the white area as shown in the photo. Others will be white with a large red eye patch.

Red Sport

Bush dry bean. Another original bean discovered in my garden in 1981, and named by me. First listed in the SSE winter yearbook in 1982. A productive and healthy red kidney type. SSE member Will Bonsall has even listed this bean in past yearbooks. An 8 foot section of row produced a pound of these beautiful red beans in 2021.

Red Turtle

Semi runner dry bean. Blossom white. First dry pods in about 85 to 90 days. Produces a prolific number of 4 inch pods and solid medium red seed. Easy to shell. Good in soup, chili or as a baked bean. One of my original beans discovered growing among Black Turtle Soup in the 1970's, and named by me. I first listed this bean in the 1980 Seed Savers Exchange yearbook, and has been listed by 9 other members. Does well in both cool and hot summers.

Red Marbles

Pole/Dry. Another of several varieties gifted to me by Harriet Mella of Austria.

Refugee

Semi Runner/Snap. Green podded. 60 days to snaps and 85 days to first dry seed. Syns. Brown Speckled Valentine, Improved Refugee, Late Refugee, Late Prolific Refugee, Round Pod Refugee. Very disease resistant. Sold by the seedhouse of J.M. Thorburn & Company as early as 1822. The most popular of the green pod bush beans in the 1800's. So popular of a variety that is was widely grown well into the 20th century.

Refugee Wax

Bush/Snap/Wax. Yellow podded. Plants large spreading with many runner like branches. Productive with a long bearing season. This stringless form was selected from a stringy form of Refugee Wax by Calvin Keeney sometime before 1897.

Rio Zape

Semi Runner/Dry. 80 days to dry seed. Green pods turn purple as they begin to dry. The bean was reportedly found in an Anasazi cliff-dwelling archeological dig in the American southwest. The beans have a creamy texture with a slight bit of chocolate flavor.

Robert's Green

Bush/Snap. 60 days to first green snaps, and 80 days to first dry pods. Selected for Contender's longer and Provider's straighter pods. 14 inch tall plants with pale-lavender blossoms. Round 4.5 to 5 inch green pods. From a cross of Contender and Provider snap varieties by Robert Lobitz in 1988.

Rockwell

Bush dry bean type. An heirloom from the Coupeville area of Central Whidbey Island in WA, it is named after the late 1800's pioneer Elisha Rockwell who brought it to the area from Maine. The bean has remained popular in homestead gardens for well over a century, renown for its ability to germinate in cool soil, mature early, and its outstanding flavor. The bean is considered a “cassoulet” type bean, it keeps it shape yet cooks up creamy and rich.

Rode Soldatenboon

Bush/Dry. In English the name is Red Soldier Bean. Sourced this bean from a gardener in the Netherlands. The seed looks a bit heavier than many of the soldiers grown in the U.S. plus an additional color in the eye figure.

Romance

Pole Lima. Romance is a relative new comer in the bean world. However it is a stable variety. Born in 2011 in the gardens of Curt Burroughs in southeastern Iowa when it showed up in a grow out of Christmas lima. The previous year to 2011 Curt raised only two limas in his garden. They were Christmas and a bush lima called Phebe Vinson. So since Romance showed up the following year it is likely that Romance is a cross of these two limas. There is always an outside chance that it is a mutation of Christmas. In the early years in the life of Romance Curt and his wife used the bean in chili and a German recipe with beans and rice. The bean is beautiful and very productive.

Rose Creek Beauty

Bush/Snap. Large plants with 6 inch long green pods. Another Robert Lobitz introduced and name varieties.

Rosie Clare

Pole/Lima. 106 days to first dry pods. Large pods and seeds like Christmas. Very productive plants produce most of it's seed crop within the range of my zone 5 climate. Traded among SSE members in the 1990's then suddenly disappeared. Upon the passing of SSE member Tom Knoche of Sardinia, Ohio in 2013. Curt Burroughs of Memphis, Missouri and friend Glenn Drowns of Sandhill Prevervation Center. Discovered the seed of Rosie Clare in Tom's freezer seed collection.

Sacre Bleu

Semi Runner Dry. Blossom Lavender. Highly productive. This bean originates with a Lisa Bloodnick of Apalachin, New York. Originaly obtained from a friend. A German bean called Dwarf Blue which had inconsistent characteristics. Lisa spent a number of years of selection to stablize this bean and to weed out plants that did not grow and perform the same way. The result, is this gorgeous dark blue bean with plants that bear a profusion of beautifuly straight 5 inch pods. This bean will darken after harvest within about a month to almost a black blue.

San Antonio

Pole/Snap/Shelly/Dry. Can be used as a snap when young as a shelly when the beans are still soft in it's pods and as dry bean when the beans are fully mature. A variety that is kept by Garden Organic in the UK as part of their Heritage Seed Library.

Sailor

Bush early dry bean grows without runners. Blossom pink on productive plants that grow to about 18 to 20 inches tall. Six inch pods contain 4 to 6 seeds. This bean had been a part of John Withee's Wanigan collection.

Schokoflecken

Bush Dry. Blossom light pink. 20 inch tall plants with 5 to 6 inch pods that contain beautiful oval rounded white beans with a red area around the eye mottled with a pinkish color. Very productive. My seed source Cordula Metzger, Labenz, Germany 2017.

Selugia

Pole dry bean. Obtained from the New Zealand Bean Project. Said to have been brought to New Zealand by a returning serviceman after the war.

Seminole

Bush/Snap. Upright plants grow without runners. 65 days to snaps and 101 days to first dry seed. Bred by the Everglades Experiment Station in Belle Glade, Florida. Released in 1955. Has smooth round green 5.25 x 5/16 in. pods, and distinct beany flavor. Pods wrinkle and tighten around seeds as they dry. Resistance to strains of rust, mildew, mosaic. Result of crossing Corbett Refugee, Great Northern, Black Valentine, Commodore, and Greenpod.

Seneca Bird Egg

Half Runner/Dry. 4 inch pods with up to 7 seeds per pods a little smaller than a navy bean. Productive even with the small sized seed. Plants create good volume of seed. Native American bean sent to me by a Seneca man from Pennsylvania. Grows similarly to Buxton's Buckshot except with taller plants, and identical but longer pods. Seed is colored and marked the same. In the mid 1800’s to the mid 1900’s there were many seed companies in NY state who offered varieties from the Seneca Indians. This is one of those beans.

Seneca Cornstalk

Pole, dry, and productive. Climbs six feet or more. Pods average 4 and half inches long, and wrinkle as they dry. Small beautiful seeds are red and white. Earliest European records found this bean to be popular among the Carolina colonist in the early 1600s to early 1700s. Native variety that prior to contact with white settlers, Seneca Cornstalk was and still is enjoyed by the Haudenosaunee and south eastern Iroquois people.