There are many hundreds of varieties of runner beans. It's difficult to make a decision. Below we will give you an overview of popular pole beans as fillet beans, wax beans and snippet beans.
What types of runner beans are there?
Popular runner bean varieties are fillet beans (e.g. Blauhilde, Neckarkönigin), wax beans (e.g. Anellino Giallo, Goldmarie), dry cooking beans (e.g. B. Zebrina, Borlotto Lingua di Fuoco) and green beans (e.g. Limka, Helda). They differ in taste, color and purpose.
Fillet bean, wax bean, dry cooking bean or snipping bean?
Pole beans are called runner beans because they need a climbing aid (pole) to grow. They are called that because of their growth habit. The counterpart are bush beans, which grow like a bush and do not require climbing support. Another way to divide beans is by their use. A distinction is made here, for example, between fillet or princess beans, wax beans and snipping or cut beans.
- Fillet beans or princess beans: have no strings and are particularly tender
- Wax beans or butter: yellowish-white, tender beans, often used in salads or for preserves.
- Dry cooking bean: Also called pearl bean. This species is mainly grown for the production of dry seeds, but the pods can also be cooked green and eaten.
- Snipping beans, sword beans or green beans: Cut into pieces, mostly used for soups and stews, become fibrous if harvested too late.
These individual types of beans cannot always be distinguished from one another. For example, there are stringless wax or dry beans, such as the Goldmarie variety, which is both a fillet bean and a wax bean.
Fillet beans The most delicious stringless runner bean varieties
These runner beans have no threads:
- Blauhilde: purple pods, purple flowers, brown seeds, medium late
- Neckarkönigin: very popular, high-yielding variety, fleshy, tender, robust against diseases and in extreme weather
Wax Beans: Yellow Runner Bean Varieties
- Anellino Giallo: Italian, stringless variety, late harvest, noble aromatic
- Goldmarie: very wide pods, very early variety, tolerates cool weather, very aromatic and stringless!
Dry cooking beans: types of runner beans with colorful, large seeds
- Zebrina: violet-green speckled pods, cream-colored seeds with black speckles
- Borlotto Lingua di Fuoco: red-white speckled pods and seeds, ripe pods turn white-purple
Cut beans: pole bean varieties for stews
- Limka: broad sword bean, stringless and tender, medium early
- Helda: wide and long, very productive
Tip
Do you want to support local seed diversity and contribute to its preservation? Then sow an old German or European runner bean variety. Here you will find an overview of the tastiest historical species.
