Seychelles Garden Bean Seeds

Days to Maturity: 55 from direct sow

All-America Selections (AAS) Winner 2017

Pole Bean

If there is a more versatile pole bean on the market today, we'd like to see it. Seychelles has it all, from multiple crops of delicious beans to a vining, climbing habit that can reach many feet tall but still be contained within a large flowerpot or tub on the deck. And did we mention that it's resistant to common bean mosaic virus and matures earlier than just about any other pole bean?

Bred by Dutch plantsmen, Seychelles earned an All-America Selections (AAS) Award for its many merits. First, the dark green pods are stringless, which makes harvesting and cleaning them so much easier. Second, they are straight, enabling you to can them more easily and compactly. Third, they are delicious, with a rich "beany" flavor you just don't find from supermarket varieties. Forth, the habit is climbing, yet so compact you can grow the plant in a large container.

Harvest these pods at about 5 to 6 inches long. They will get a bit bigger if you let them, but they are at their tender best at this size. Besides, they finish in just 55 days, so you'll have the first beans on the block. And keep feeding and watering Seychelles after that first harvest to encourage a second (and possibly third and fourth) crop even sooner.

Many gardeners prefer pole beans for their distinctively strong flavor. Because they use vertical space, they free up the horizontal rows in the vegetable garden for other varieties while bearing abundant harvests. They're easier than bush beans to harvest as well.

Direct sow the seeds after all danger of frost, and for longest harvest, keep sowing at 3-week intervals until late spring. For fall crops, begin in late summer and continue until a month or so before first frost date. Support the vines on a trellis, tower, or poles spaced 3 feet apart.

And this season, consider growing a Three Sisters combination planting of beans, corn, and squash. This Native American planting uses the three plants to help one another grow and fruit their best: the corn provides a "pole" for the bean to climb, while the squash offers groundcover protection for the corn and bean roots. Seychelles is a great Three Sisters plant.