I would suggest growing something else. My experience with runner beans is that they are extremely sensitive to high temps and low moisture levels. They can make a crop in my zone 7 but require special adaptations. I grow them on the north side of a row of corn, plant them just as early as possible, about 1 week before last possible frost, and push them to grow fast by using lots of organic fertilizer.

DarJones - who suggests ordinary pole beans such as Rattlesnake for most growers in zones 7 - 11

Maybe you could try Cannelini or Tarbais.Is Di Spagna a runner? Seeds of Italy calls it a butterbean. There may be more than one bean with that name. King of the Garden lima is a large white lima that seems to like hot weather, maybe it will grow for you. Why not try several from local seed shops or specialty markets and see what you can get to grow.

Here is a link that might be useful: Seeds from Italy

From other information on the web, they are runner beans and therefore subject to the temperature/moisture limitations that most runner beans have.

Butterbeans, whether the large seeded limas or the smaller sieva types are exceptionally heat tolerant. I grow lots of them each year. They are much more heat tolerant than any other type of bean.

DarJones

So do they like the same weather as say, sweet peas?

My USDA hardiness zone is 11 but my heat zone is only 5 which is the same as northern Illinois so i get hopeful about these things. OTOH i don't have a lot of trellis room so i don't want to waste the space.

Happy i found the Di Spagna surfing around those italian seeds sites, so cool. Then i found a few older discussions on this board where the consensus seemed to be that it was a runner, oof.

The Tarbais sounds interesting but i just did a quick search and it sounds like the seeds are hard to come by.

Dar, i've seen Rattlesnake beans get quite a bit of good press but i don't think it's the bean i want. i like limas but again, not the right bean this time.

It may sound silly but i've got this idea about a largish, plump, oval bean of white or pale green coloring to cook, dress liberally with an herby, olive oily dressing and toss in salads, Salad Nicoise particularly.

Brita's foot long maybe? i saw it listed in the SSE and it seems to have garnered favorable reviews here on this forum.

Here is a link that might be useful: Heat Zone Map

"So do they like the same weather as say, sweet peas? "
mauirose , the short answer is no. If by sweet pea, you mean Lathyrus odoratus or Lathyrus latifolius fairly close athough sweet peas will take a bit more heat. If you mean English peas (Pisum sativum), runner beans will do well where English peas work in midsummer. They won't stand cold like an English pea. They need a cool moist summer as they have a relatively long maturity date.

Mauirose, from your name can I guess you are located on the southern tip of Maui? And you get 70s weather, just all year long? You probably have a good chance of being able to grow runners perennially and be able to pick beans all year long for as many years as the root lives. Sounds trellis-worthy to me. Why not try it and let us know what happens.

I'm also in Heat Zone 5 and I grew runners this summer, they grew for two months, got shredded by a hailstorm, regenerated their leaves and set a couple hundred pods in the next two months, then had two nights of frost before I picked them. I'll still get eating beans, though if I don't get viable seeds, it was the frost and short time that ruined them.

You never know until you try, and even then one year can be different from the next. The first time I planted King of the Garden I got many beans. This year my KOG set no beans but another grower even further north from me got a bumper crop.

If your growing space is limited, find a way to make more. I've got six 4'x12' raised beds, three 4'x5' tiered beds, and a 6'x6' potato bed, all on a reclaimed concrete surface.

Good luck, let us know how it goes!

Here is a link that might be useful: Purcell Mountain, souce Tarbais

Thanks Farmerdilla, that lets me know exactly the kind of conditions these beans need. We sometimes get weeks like that in the winter but as Happy said, every year is different.

Happy i'm a little further north, on the flanks of the West Maui Mountains. Funny that we are in the same heat zone, yeah? Sorry to hear about your hail storm but glad to hear your beans pulled through. Thanks for the Tarbais link.

Beans are one of my better crops, i'm becoming quite fond of them. Probably i do need to build more trellis space.

i think i'll try some potato beans just to see. i just read that they are also called Aztec Half Runner beans and tolerate a little more heat that usual. i'll let you know how it goes!

I can't help you on whether runners will grow for you but if they do I can tell you about their climbing requirements. They actually take up very little space on the ground. Just the same as a pole bean. Each plant needs a single pole about 10 feet long with 2 feet pushed into the ground. You can make teepees or have a double row with the tops tied to a ridge pole.

Normally, runner beans do great here in the PNW where there are not many days a year above 90F, and 100F is almost unheard of.

This summer, in late July we had a week of 100 with one day of 106. The Bianco di Spagna ("Italian butter beans") that I started in peat pots managed to set pods before the heat and they did ok. Those direct seeded about June 1 did not. So they were mostly blossoms until August. By then it was too late to produce a good crop as we had a 27F night on October 10.

Mauirose I do not see why they would not produce for you. These beans originated in the tropics! I planted mine last fall, they sprouted and their growth and development seemed stunted right until the spring equinox. Then they took off with a vengeance, climbed pretty well and gave us lots of flowers. They are an orangish red that is a favorite of hummingbirds.

They produced prolifically until the heat came (around end of July). When the pods set in heat, they are empty, like a little leathery bag and no beans inside. If it gets even hotter, no pods at all, but still flowers! Now it cooled down so they are producing again. I suppose I should prune them and mulch them. To me the idea of pruning and mulching a bean is odd, since this is my first perennial bean.

In any case, if you get many days with temperatures between 60F and 80F you will do very well with them. Above 90F they do not like it much, and as far as cold, no idea since they seemed dormant until the spring. I don't know if this was because they were not established yet. I will let you guys know how they do this winter, now that they are established. By winter i mean yes, it will freeze a couple of days, but just the air, the ground does not freeze here.

The peas like it even colder, they like 40F to 70F and above that they burn up. I'd say you might be out of luck with the peas...(hey, but you can grow bananas and I can't!....I am so jealous of your zone 11) We can grow peas in my zone Nov-Feb/March, and the scarlet runners produced like mad in the interval Late March - early July. We love being 'in beans' all the time!

I have to warn you though, that the flavor is nothing like the white limas, or any white beans. Rather, they taste very much like pinto beans to me (but better). I really like the shellies and dried beans in chili with southwestern spices. I like the pods grilled and pickled best.

Thank-you Flora, Drloyd and Cabrita, i am beginning to feel more optimistic about this experiment! i have some Aztec Half Runner Beans (aka Potato Beans) from Seeds of Change that i will be planting next weekend probably.

i am suprised by the seeds. Seems like bean seeds are usually pretty uniform but these range from big, lovely plump things 7/8" long to a few smallish seeds coming in at a strong 1/2". The larger seeds are fatter and wider and seem to be easily twice the size of the smaller ones. Is this typical for runner beans?

I found this...

http://local.floridata.com/Runner_Bean_Lahaina_HI-r1189496-Lahaina_HI.html

Gary

Reporting back for those who may be interested:

Aztec Half Runners
11.7-10 seeds planted
11.14-All germinated
12.8-Three plants flowering. Looking good!
12.24-Only a few flowers produced on the three plants, no other plants flowering. One plant has set two pods. Plants all look bushy and remain small. Only one runner is produced which travels about two feet up the trellis and stops.
1.27-The two pods have dried and i have 4 fat, white beans. No more flowers have been produced. The plants do not look like they have grown since 12.8! Wait and see.
3.7-A few plants look like they have grown backwards. No further flowering or substantial growth. Plants pulled.

Hmmm, thought beans would either 'grow, flower, fail to set pods' or 'grow, flower, set pods'. Did not expect 'barely grow, barely flower'. Beans previously grown in the same location grew fine.

i am going to replant the four beans just to see what happens and also because what else do you do with four beans. Not like they take up alot of room ; ) I have some Chaco Canyon runners that i will probably plant eventually, too.

Mauirose, thank you for the report. Temperatures should have been ok during that time.

Your days are more than 2 hours shorter that time of year. I wonder if that makes a difference. Even in your "summer" the days are not all that long. - Dick