Renee's Garden tricolor pole beans

[habitat_gardener]

I'm planning to grow about 20 varieties of beans this year, and really want to grow Purple Peacock. The Renee's Garden pack of tricolor pole beans lists [see below] Kentucky Wonder, Purple Peacock, and Yellow Pole Wax. Inside are 33 cream, 11 tan, and 23 dark brown beans. But nowhere does the packet identify which bean is which! I don't have enough space to grow them all. I'm assuming the Kentucky Wonder beans are cream color. Somewhere online I read that Purple Peacock has beige beans (but do they turn dark brown with age?).

If you've grown these beans, did you figure out which beans were which?

[as noted later, the packet has Blue Lake, not Kentucky Wonder, and those are the ones I'm assuming are the cream color]

[janezee]

I'd send her an email and ask.

j

[habitat_gardener]

Originally Posted by janezee

I'd send her an email and ask.

Done! Shoulda been obvious.

[kath]

Just saw this, but in case it takes a while for her to get back to you, look on the back of the packet and there should be a little flap. I think that's where the key was for the two assortments I got from her this year- squash and watermelons. But the seeds had a bit of dye on them. Maybe she still included a key for the natural color difference in the beans.

Kentucky Wonder would be the dark brown ones.

[Tormato]

If you don't get a reply...

Kentucky Wonder has brown seeds,
Purple Peacock has tan seeds that are fairly flat.

At least you didn't get the green/ yellow pole mix from a few years ago. They were both black seeded, with the same size and shape of bean.

Tormato

[habitat_gardener]

oops-- I meant to write Blue Lake, not Kentucky Wonder.

I got a reply but so far it's only confirmed that the Blue Lake are the cream color beans.

It's not on the packet anywhere, and I wrote my guesses on the blank reverse side of the flap. I guess they expect you to just plant the whole packet. However, the packet does say "equal parts Blue Lake, Yellow Pole Wax, and Purple Peacock," which is not true.

[habitat_gardener]

Has anyone grown these beans? I'm not getting a good answer from the co.; the rep has been sending me info on different (from the ones listed on the packet) varieties!

[Doug9345]

This shows a photograph of Purple Peacock beans.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/maggiemom/5533612783/

The Yellow pole bean I'm taking as a generic description and not a variety as I can't seem to find one with that name. I'm assuming it is Kentucky Wonder Wax. That is the most common wax pole bean. I've attached a picture of my seed. The battery is a Duracell and the pencil is your normal yellow pencil to give you size and color reference.

Any Blue Lake Pole I've grown has white seeds.

[dustdevil]

If you can't figure it out now, it will be apparent when the beans are formed. Some bean seeds discolor with age.

[Fusion_power]

Except that there is a commonly available black seeded Blue Lake that I am growing this year.

DarJones

[Doug9345]

I learn something everyday. I didn't know there was a black version. Do you know if it grows or tastes different.

[habitat_gardener]

Originally Posted by Doug9345

This shows a photograph of Purple Peacock beans.
...
The Yellow pole bean I'm taking as a generic description and not a variety as I can't seem to find one with that name. I'm assuming it is Kentucky Wonder Wax....

Thanks! Both photos look like the seeds I have.

I planted both types of darker seeds, and that's how I'd labeled them. I wanted to be sure to get Purple Peacock and thought its tan seeds might have gotten darker with age.

And that explains why the original e-mail from the co. listed Kentucky Wonder as one of the varieties and didn't list a yellow or wax bean -- the name probably got truncated.

Curiously, when I said KW wasn't on the list of varieties for the tricolor packet, the company said "The gold bean is our French Gold bean" and "The gold bean in this mixture is the white bean."