• Not all pole beans are green.purple beans, image by hazel proudlove from Fotolia.com
  
  Pole beans are a popular vegetable to grow in gardens. Their planting and care is generally easy. They offer a good economic alternative to store-bought produce, and their vertical growth is a space-saver, allowing more vegetable growth. A handful of varieties have proven to be good producers and feature slightly different tastes and structure.
  
  

Blue Lake

• Blue Lake pole beans take 66 days to mature. They were originally bred for canning and freezing, but can be eaten straight off the vine as snap or shell beans, like some other varieties. The FM-1K strain is resistant to bean common mosaic virus, which is spread via aphids and bean seeds. Young, tender Blue Lake pods grow to about six inches long, are stringless, dark green and round. Their growth is usually vigorous, and they produce about 95 seeds per pod ounce.
  
  

Kentucky Wonder

• Kentucky Wonder pole beans, also known as Old Homestead, are heirlooms that can easily be found wherever vegetable seeds are sold in the spring. They can grow to about 7 feet tall and their stringless pods are long and fleshy. Kentucky Wonders are less productive than Blue Lakes, offering about 75 seeds per ounce, and mature in 68 days. They can be prepared and eaten a number of different ways, from canned to fresh.
  
  

McCaslan

• McCaslan's, one of the oldest heirloom varieties, mature in 66 days. They were introduced to the public in 1912, but originated before that in the South, where the McCaslan family of Georgia raised them. They grow to about 5 ½ feet tall. Pods are larger, about 8 inches in length, and are best eaten as fresh snap beans or shelled. McCaslins are prolific producers, growing about 80 plump, meaty white seeds per ounce.
  
  

Romano

• Many Europeans enjoy growing Italian Romano pole beans, which mature in about 80 days and have a nutty taste. Plants reach 6 feet tall and produce thick, flat pods that are stringless and best eaten when young. They only offer about 40 seeds per ounce, but regular picking will prolong growth.
  
  

Trionfo Violleto

• Proving that pole beans come in colors other than green, Trionfo Violleto is a striking French pole bean variety that produces purple pods. The beans, however, turn green when cooked. They are best picked when young and have a nutty, sweet flavor. They mature in about 60 days and pods, which are also considered ornamental, can grow to 8 inches long.