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denninmi

Is there any green/snap/wax bean variety with a white pod?

denninmi
12 years ago

White, white-ish, or so pale yellow as to appear white or at least "cream" colored.

I came up with this admittedly strange idea to grow an all-white vegetable garden. Most vegetables come in "white" or nearly white, from the common, such as white sweet corn, to the more unusual, such as white okra and white cucumbers.

But I haven't come up with an edible-podded bean that appears white or nearly white. There are, of course, many shelled beans that are white. But I would like to find some kind of edible-podded bean with a (nearly) white pod.

If no one knows of a P. vulgaris or a runner with a white pod, any "near" beans such as any strains of Southern peas with a white pod?

Comments (11)

  • farmerdill
    12 years ago

    Once upon a time there were white podded wax beans; White Zulu, Crystal White Wax, Ivory Pod Wax. Have no idea if you can find them today. Today there is supposedly a white podded Adzuki bean, but I have never encountered it.

    Here is a link that might be useful: White wax forum discussion

  • fusion_power
    12 years ago

    Try Synergy Seeds.

    http://www.synergyseeds.com/

    DarJones

  • Donna
    12 years ago

    Dennis, I just want to say that I love your white garden idea. You know I love vegetable gardening, but my strong suit is still flower gardening. I do a fair amount of design work around the community and my favorite designs are always gardens designed with green and white. If you do entries at a garden show or state fair, I should think that a green and white veggie bed would be an award winner.

    Zipper Cream cowpeas have cream colored bean shells when they are ripe and ready to pick. And our southern Scuppernong grapes are a pale cream to yellow colored. (Don't know if they'd do as far north as you are.)

    Also, you might want to consider white variegated foliage.
    It seems to me that I have read of this in beans, but I can't remember where. There is definitely white variegated basil and white variegated mint (though, of course, that would be aggressive).

  • denninmi
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Well, all I can keep thinking of is the famous "White Garden" at Sissinghurst.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Sissinghurst

  • Donna
    12 years ago

    Certainly. Have you been there? If I had a bucket list AND a Jack Nicholson type benefactor, touring Sissinghurst and other great European gardens would be very near the top of my list!

  • deanriowa
    12 years ago

    How is their flavor compared to other wax beans?

    Do they keep their color as wax beans do?

  • denninmi
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I haven't been anywhere! I'm not really a traveler. The extent of my foreign travels have been Windsor and Sarnia, Ontario -- woo hoo, Windsor is a whole 25 mile trip from my house. Sarnia is a little more exotic, it's about 60 miles.

  • Donna
    12 years ago

    All the more reason to be grateful for photography. I was in Ontario once when I was a teenager. I remember it as beautiful, green, lush, and COOL in the summer. That last one made a real impression on this southern girl. Would love to go back someday.

  • fusion_power
    12 years ago

    As a side note, Striped Bunch beans have the trait for white beans. The seed are brown with darker brown/maroon stripes, but the beans have a white gloss on the outside.

    DarJones

  • zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin
    11 years ago

    Bumping this up, in case there is still some interest. I was just looking through Synergy Seeds' website, and they have "Crystal Wax" as one of their Spring specials.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Synergy Seed Exchange

  • brightmeadow
    11 years ago

    I grew the Crystal Wax (Ice) bean this past year and really liked it. Initially the pods are green and that is when I ate them. Then, the pods turned a whitish colour. I was amazed to see them! They are a very ancient bean variety. I ordered from Synergy Seeds last year and had excellent service from them as well as 100 per cent germination on the seeds.

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