Perhaps Southern New England is on the border line of good lima bean growing climate. Here on Cape Cod I have grown Jackson Wonder, a bush lima similar to Florida Speckled, and a friend of mine grows a huge crop of Fordhook every summer. I think his production varies somewhat depending on the weather, but he gets enough to make it worthwhile.

It surprises me that you can't grow them in Southern Connecticut as well, but maybe your climate is just enough different to prevent that. A Wisconsin gardener sent me King of the Garden and White Willow Leaf. I plan to try those varieties this summer. If he grows them in Wisconsin they should do fine here. We'll see how it goes.

Jim

Thanks Jim. Others have also mentioned King of the Garden. I may try them and get an early start inside.
John A

Go through this list on NCSU and see if you can find any of the varieties selected for northern climates. Cowey Red was one I noted. No idea if any of these are still available but if you investigate, you will probably find one or two that are.

NCSU LIMA's

Bush lima varieties are generally earlier maturing than pole varieties. They will likely produce more than pole varieties in your conditions.

If you want to grow a pole type, you might check on Carolina Red from Sandhill Preservation. It has consistently been an early maturing variety in my garden.

Fusion

This thread is also posted on the Vegetable Forum, where it received quite a few responses.

I'll second Fusion's recommendation for the "Carolina Red", along with its white-seeded cousin "Sieva". The small-seeded pole varieties seem to be among the earliest; for me "Sieva" has been even earlier than most bush varieties. It has cropped reliably here in northeast Wisconsin.

"King of the Garden" might be "iffy" in New England, I know it is here. But since you can get a lot from relatively few plants, it is worth starting early indoors in peat pots. The beans are large & fat, and the flavor is very similar to "Fordhook", outstanding when harvested in the green-shelled stage.

If all else fails, you will probably succeed with "Henderson Bush", but I don't consider it to be the best flavored.

Just went back to see what kinds of limas I grew back in 2005. It was the Fordhook and a Burpee improved bush bean. Both were bought through the VT Bean Company. Both were quite vine intensive, and were supported on 5 foot tall trellises. This year I will try the King of the Garden as well as more Fordhook ones. They don't really start to get big inside until almost late August, early September here.

I have grown both "sieva" and another not mentioned here, "Christmas Lima", which keep nicely as dried bean. Sieva is earlier. I know folks here who grow both to have longer fresh lima season. My source for "Christmas" below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Seed Savers' Lima page