10 Types of Beans to Grow: The Right Variety for Your Garden Size and Climate
Bush beans harvest in 50 days; yardlong beans thrive above 90°F where others fail. Find your match among 10 bean types—by zone, space, and growing goal.
The bean you choose on planting day determines whether you’re harvesting every other day for three months or picking furiously for two weeks in July. That’s not a small difference in a home garden.
There are 10 distinct types of beans worth growing in the US, and they’re not interchangeable. Bush snap beans and yardlong beans share the legume family but almost nothing else — one thrives in Zone 5, the other in Zone 9; one matures in six weeks, the other produces through summer’s worst heat. Lima beans need soil that stays above 65°F for five days before they’ll germinate reliably. Fava beans collapse when temperatures climb above 80°F. Pick the wrong type for your climate and you’ll fight the plant all season.
This guide covers all 10 types — growth habits, days to harvest, climate sweet spot, and the specific situations where each one outperforms the rest. For full planting and care instructions, see the complete bean growing guide.
Quick Reference: 10 Bean Types at a Glance
| Type | Growth Habit | Days to Harvest | Best Zones | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bush snap beans | Upright, 2 ft | 50–60 | 3–10 | Beginners, canning/freezing |
| Pole snap beans | Vine, 5–8 ft | 60–70 | 3–10 | Small space, long harvest season |
| Wax (yellow) beans | Upright, 2 ft | 50–60 | 3–10 | Easy harvesting, fresh eating |
| Lima beans | Bush or pole | 65–110 | 6–10 | Warm-climate shelling bean |
| Edamame | Bush, 1.5–2 ft | 80–100 | 4–10 | Fresh snacking, short rows |
| Runner beans | Vine, 10–12 ft | 75–85 | 6–10 | Cool summers, ornamental value |
| Dry beans | Bush or pole | 85–120 | 4–9 | Food storage, pantry staples |
| Fava beans | Upright, 4 ft | 80–100 | 3–8 | Cool-season early spring crop |
| Yardlong beans | Vine, 8–10 ft | 60–80 | 7–11 | Heat-wave gardens, Southeast/SW |
| Shell beans | Bush or pole | 70–85 | 3–9 | Fresh cooking without long soaks |
Snap Bean Varieties (Types 1–3)
Snap beans are harvested before the seeds inside the pod mature — pods and all — making them the most familiar category for US home gardeners. Three distinct types fall under this umbrella, each suited to different growing situations.
1. Bush Snap Beans
Bush snap beans are self-supporting plants that rarely exceed 2 feet tall. They need no trellis, mature in 50–60 days, and produce in a concentrated flush — most of the harvest arrives within a 2–3 week window. That concentrated production is a feature for canning and freezing (you have enough at once to process a batch) but a limitation if you want beans through the whole summer. Plan for succession planting every 2–3 weeks if continuous harvest is the goal.
Provider is the standard choice for northern gardens (Zones 3–5) because it germinates in cool soil when other varieties stall. Blue Lake 274 produces dark-green, rounded pods 5½ to 6½ inches long with heavy yields and holds texture well for canning. Contender matures in just 50 days and handles humid southeastern conditions reliably. Royal Burgundy produces deep purple pods that are impossible to miss against green foliage — you never accidentally leave one to go tough and seedy — and they turn green when cooked.
2. Pole Snap Beans
Pole beans are twining vines that grow 5–8 feet tall and require a sturdy trellis, teepee, or fence. The structural investment pays off in total season yield: pole beans produce continuously rather than in a single flush, and they yield more per square foot of ground — 10–12 pounds per 10 feet compared to 7–10 pounds for bush types. One planting of pole beans carries through to frost without succession sowing.
Kentucky Wonder has been grown in US gardens since before 1864. It’s heat-tolerant, stringless when harvested young, and keeps setting beans even in midsummer heat. Romano (Italian Flat Bean) produces wide, flat pods with a meaty, savory flavor that’s better cooked than raw — particularly good braised or sautéed with garlic.
In my garden, I grow pole beans against the south side of a 6-foot cattle panel. They shade lettuces behind them through summer heat, and a single May planting keeps producing until October frost.
3. Wax (Yellow) Beans
Wax beans are genetically snap beans with one difference: they lack chlorophyll in their pods, which produces yellow rather than green color. In every other respect — flavor, texture, growth habit, soil requirements, days to maturity — they behave identically to green bush snap beans.
The practical reason to grow them is visibility. Yellow pods against dark-green foliage are impossible to miss at harvest, so fewer beans over-mature and go tough. Gold Crop and Kinghorn Wax are the most reliable bush varieties, both maturing in 50–60 days. The flavor is slightly more delicate than green snap beans — most tasters describe it as buttery — which makes wax beans particularly good eaten fresh in salads.
Shelling Bean Varieties (Types 4–5)
Shelling beans are harvested differently from snap beans. The pods are fibrous and not eaten; you open the pod and shell out the mature beans inside. Lima beans and edamame are the two shelling types most commonly grown in US home gardens.
4. Lima Beans
Lima beans (Phaseolus lunatus) are a different species from snap beans, and they have stricter temperature demands. Soil must reach 65°F and stay there for at least five days before seed germination becomes reliable — below that threshold, seeds rot rather than sprout. That requirement limits lima beans to Zones 6–10 and to mid-to-late spring plantings even in warmer regions.
Bush limas (Fordhook 242 is the benchmark variety) mature in 70–80 days and need no support structure. Pole limas take 85–110 days but produce over a longer season — worth the wait in Zones 7–10 where summers run long and hot. Henderson Bush is a baby lima variety with a creamier texture and more delicate flavor than large-seeded Fordhook types; many tasters prefer it for fresh eating.
You might also find vegetables beet container helpful here.
Gardeners in Zones 3–5 can grow bush limas with indoor starts 3–4 weeks before transplanting and early-maturing varieties, but the window is tight. In Minnesota and northern Iowa, lima production is consistently less reliable than snap beans because the soil warmth requirement leaves little margin.
5. Edamame (Soybeans)
Edamame is fresh soybeans (Glycine max) harvested when the pods are plump and green but the seeds haven’t dried. It’s a different genus from both snap and lima beans, which makes edamame genuinely distinct. Plants grow 1.5–2 feet tall with no support needed, fitting the same garden footprint as bush snap beans.
Maturity runs 80–100 days, and harvest timing is critical: pods are at peak sweetness for only 3–5 days after the beans inside fully fill out. Wait too long and the beans turn starchy. Chiba Green and Tohya are widely recommended for northern and mid-zone gardens. Midori Star suits shorter-season gardens (Zones 4–5) because it matures in under 85 days.
Homegrown edamame has a sweetness that commercially frozen versions can’t replicate — the sugars begin converting to starch within hours of harvest, which explains why supermarket edamame always tastes flat by comparison.
Dry and Storage Beans (Type 6)
6. Dry Beans
Dry beans are left on the plant until the pods yellow and the seeds rattle inside — completely desiccated before harvest. This category includes the widest range of colors and flavors: kidney, pinto, black turtle, Great Northern, navy, cannellini, and dozens of heirlooms like Tiger Eye and Calypso. Most of the beans in a grocery store’s pantry section fall here.
Most dry beans need 85–120 days, which rules them out of very short-season gardens (Zone 3 with fewer than 95 frost-free days). Once established, dry beans tolerate moderately dry conditions better than snap beans — you’re waiting for complete seed maturation rather than chasing tender pods, so brief dry spells are less damaging.
Pinto and black bean are the most forgiving varieties for first-time dry-bean growers. Great Northern produces large white beans with a mild flavor ideal for soups and stews. For short-season gardens, choose bush-type dry beans — they mature 10–15 days faster than pole dry varieties and can succeed where pole types run out of time before frost.
The storage return is compelling: dried beans store without refrigeration for years, which no other vegetable crop can match for long-term food security from a small garden bed.
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→ View My Garden CalendarSpecialty and Cool-Season Types (Types 7–10)
7. Runner Beans
Scarlet runner beans (Phaseolus coccineus) are the only type on this list that performs best in cool weather. While all other beans struggle below 60°F or drop flowers above 90°F, scarlet runners produce most reliably at 60–75°F — making them the best choice for coastal climates with mild summers (maritime Pacific Northwest, coastal California, coastal New England) and for spring or fall crops in interior gardens.
Vines reach 10–12 feet and produce spectacular scarlet flowers attractive to hummingbirds, which makes runner beans equally valid as ornamental climbers on an arbor, fence, or pergola. Pods mature in 75–85 days. Young pods can be eaten as snap beans; mature seeds can be dried like dry beans — they’re large, speckled purple-black, and rich-flavored.
In hot continental climates (Zones 5–8 interior), scarlet runners often slow production in July and August, then flush again in September if left in the ground. Don’t pull them mid-season — they’ll come back when temperatures drop.
8. Fava Beans
Fava beans (Vicia faba) are not in the Phaseolus genus — they’re botanically distinct from every other bean type here — but they earn a place on this list because they solve the cool-season gap no other bean fills. While every other type demands warm soil, fava beans germinate in soil as cold as 40°F and tolerate light frost, making them the first bean you can plant each spring.
In Zone 6, you can sow favas in late February or early March. They peak in 80–100 days and decline above 80°F, which in most US gardens means harvesting in May–June before summer heat arrives. In Zones 8–10, grow them as a fall or winter crop instead.
The mature beans have a papery inner skin that most recipes call for removing: blanch briefly, shock in ice water, and slip the inner bean free. Broad Windsor is the standard cultivar. Sweet Lorane produces smaller-seeded beans with thinner skins that don’t require peeling when harvested young — the better choice if you want to eat them quickly rather than process a large batch.
9. Yardlong Beans
Yardlong beans (Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis), also called asparagus beans, are the heat specialist on this list. They evolved in Southeast Asia for hot, humid conditions and continue setting pods through summer heat that shuts down every other bean type. Where snap beans drop flowers above 90°F, yardlong beans keep producing.
Pods reach 18–24 inches and should be harvested at 12–15 inches for best texture — at full length they become stringy and bland. Vines grow vigorously and need 8–10 feet of vertical support. Days to maturity: 60–80 days from sowing in warm soil.
Best suited to Zones 7–11 — particularly the Southeast, Southwest, and warm Pacific coast. Gardeners in Zones 5–6 can grow them but should direct-sow only after soil reaches 70°F and expect a shorter production window before frost. In the lower South (Zones 8–11), yardlong beans are often the only bean that stays productive through July and August.
10. Shell (Horticultural) Beans
Shell beans occupy the harvest stage between snap beans and dry beans. Harvest when the pods are plump and the beans inside are fully formed but still moist — the pods themselves are too fibrous to eat, but the fresh beans cook in 20–30 minutes rather than the 1–2 hours that dry beans require. Most articles about bean types skip this category entirely, treating beans as either snap or dry with nothing between. That’s a gap worth filling.
Borlotti (Cranberry bean) is the most recognizable: cream-colored pods with red streaks, and seeds with the same color pattern that cook up rich and dense. Vermont Cranberry is a heritage variety adapted to short-season New England gardens. Tongue of Fire is a dual-purpose type that can be eaten as a shell bean or left to fully dry — useful if you want flexibility on harvest timing and don’t want to commit to one use before the season plays out.
The texture of fresh-shelled beans — creamy, dense, almost chestnut-like — is something neither canned dry beans nor fresh snap beans replicate. It’s worth growing at least a short row.
Which Bean Type Fits Your Garden?
The quickest way to narrow your choice:
- Short on space? Pole snap beans yield the most per square foot and grow on any vertical surface. A 10-foot row against a fence outproduces 20 feet of bush beans over a full season.
- Short growing season (Zones 3–5)? Bush snap beans maturing in 50–60 days are your safest choice. Dry beans work if your frost-free window exceeds 95 days. Avoid lima beans unless starting indoors.
- Hot climate (Zones 8–10)? Lima beans and yardlong beans are your warm-season allies. Fava beans and scarlet runner beans work as cool-season crops in fall or early spring.
- Want food storage? Dry beans store without refrigeration for years — no other vegetable type matches that return from a single season’s harvest.
- First-time grower? Bush snap beans: Provider for cool northern zones, Contender for humid southeastern gardens. Fast, forgiving, and require nothing beyond basic soil preparation.
- Want ornamental appeal? Scarlet runner beans on a trellis deliver both edible beans and hummingbird-attracting scarlet flowers through summer without any extra work.
If you already grow tomatoes or basil nearby, beans make useful companions — as nitrogen-fixing legumes, they build soil fertility for adjacent crops over the course of the season.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I grow different types of beans together?
Yes. Bush and pole beans often share the same garden — plant pole varieties where they won’t shade bush plants. Different genera (Phaseolus vs. Vicia for favas) don’t cross-pollinate, so you can save seeds from each type separately without concern about accidental crossing.
What’s the easiest bean for a first-time grower?
Bush snap beans. Provider and Contender germinate reliably across a wide soil temperature range, require no support structure, and are ready to harvest 50–55 days from planting. University extension services from Iowa, Minnesota, Maryland, and Utah all point to bush snap beans as the starting point for first-time bean growers.
Do all beans need full sun?
All 10 types need at least 6 hours of direct sun daily — 8–10 hours is better. Fewer than 6 hours and pod set drops significantly, with plants growing leggy and thin rather than productive.
Sources
- All About Beans — Iowa State University Extension
- Growing Beans in Home Gardens — University of Minnesota Extension
- Growing Beans in a Home Garden — University of Maryland Extension
- Bean: Snap, Lima, and Dry — New England Vegetable Management Guide, UMass Amherst
- Beans in the Garden — Utah State University Extension
