Please note that this post may contain affiliate links. You can read my full affiliate disclosure at the bottom of the page.
Green beans are a staple vegetable to grow in the garden. They are also one of the easier vegetables to grow, making them a great option for new home gardeners. There are several different types of green beans you can grow in your backyard vegetable garden. Some of these are the classic style green beans that you are used to. Other types of green beans you can grow have unique colors, flavors, and textures.
Green beans have other names that they go by such as French beans, snap beans, and string beans are a few.
Just how many different types of green beans are there that you can grow? While you can find information that there are over 130 varieties of pod beans, there is no exact number of what is available for green beans that you grow. But in this post, we go over the different types of green beans you can grow in your garden that you can easily get seeds for.
The Main Types of Green Beans
Before we get into all the different types of green beans to grow, you need to be aware of the two main types of green bean plants: pole beans and bush beans.
What is the difference between pole beans and bush beans? As the names suggest, bush beans grow in a bush type pant and stay closer to the ground than pole beans. With pole beans, these plants need a type of support they can grow up. Pole beans grow in a vine like fashion and need support for the plant. We usually use a trellis style support in our garden.
Varieties of Green Bean Seeds That Are Pole Beans
Blue Lake Pole Bean Seeds. This pole bean plant grows up to 8 feet long. Usually, a trellis is best to use with these since they do grow so long. If you pick the pods when they are young they will be string-less.
Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans. This is one of the more popular varieties of green beans that gardeners grow from seed. This green bean plant is very adaptable and gives a high yield of green beans that are large in size, sometimes up to 9 inches long and the plant itself can grow 9 feet tall.
Kentucky Blue Green Beans. This pole bean plant is able to be harvested in about 60 days. They are another popular variety of green beans that home gardeners love to grow on trellises. This bean is a cross between Kentucky Wonder and Blue Lake Green Beans.
Algarve French Climbing Bean. Algarve bean plants grow 6 to 7 feet long and have beautiful white blooms during the springtime.
Golden Gate Pole Bean. This pole bean grows pods that can be up to 10 inches long. It takes about 66 days for the plant to produce.
Gold Marie Pole Beans. These pole beans take around 75 days to produce their bright yellow beans with pods about 6 inches long.
Rattlesnake Pole Bean. These are a heirloom string-less green pole bean with pods around 7 inches long. They take a bit over 70 days to mature. They are great for canning.
Varieties of Green Bean Seeds That Are Bush Beans
Contender Bush Green Beans. This is a high yielding bush green bean that was first available in 1949 for gardeners to grow. This variety of green bean plant is disease resistant.
Royal Burgundy Bush Beans. These green beans grow in a purple pod and give a great pop of color to any vegetable garden. This is a bush bean that can be a good contender for a container garden.
Blue Lake Bush Bean. This variety of bush green beans is very popular. The pods grow fairly straight and about 6 inches long. The plants average around 15 inches tall.
Provider Green Beans. This bush bean was put on the market in 1965. These beans are able to be planted earlier than other green beans due to their ability to do well in cooler soil.
Derby Bush Bean. These bush beans just over 50 days to mature and are stringless. You’ll get 6 inch long pots all season long with this type of green bean plant. The pods are long and straight.
Black Valentine Bush Beans. This bush bean plant unique green bean plant that has green pods, but the beans themselves are black. They take about 70 days to mature and give good yields. The black valentine bean plant stays between 1 and 2 feet tall and requires full sun.
Slenderette Bush Beans. This bush bean plant grows to around 2 feet tall and produces dark green pods that are around 5 inches long.
Dragon Tongue Bush Bean. These colorful bush beans have yellow pods with purple streaks. It’s always fun to add colorful green beans to the garden.
Early Italian Bush Bean. This green bean is a very tasty one. The plant grows to around 16 inches and is about 10 inches in width with 5 to 6 inch pods.
Jade Bush Bean. This variety of green bean is ready in about 60 days. It has sweet, tender, and string-less and straight pods. The plant grows to around 20 inches tall and has a good yield.
