'Maggie x Provider' Bush Bean Breeding Mix

Phaseolus vulgaris

Origin: Western North Carolina

Improvement status: Breeding population

Seeds per packet: ~35

Germination tested 08/2024: 97%

Life cycle: Annual

Another magical project from our dear friends at the Utopian Seed Project in western North Carolina. Here's what project founder Chris Smith has to say about these beautiful beans:

"'Maggie Flowers' is a pink-seeded, pink-podded heirloom bush bean that produces bunches of extremely early (~40 days) and prolific green beans, which mature to baby pink and purple. The green beans are good, the shelling beans are good, and the dried beans are good too! This is an old-fashioned stringed bean. 'Provider' is a very well-known purple-seeded bush bean that is also early (~42 days) and prolific. But it's a stringless bean. Yanna Fishman, board member of The Utopian Seed Project and longtime seed saver, grows both beans pretty close to each other and started noticing some crossing between the two varieties. She passed these seeds to The Utopian Seed Project and in 2023 we grew out those crossed seeds. The pods exploded into a beautiful spectrum of pod types and seed colors. We are hunting for a stringless version of 'Maggie Flowers'' pink-seeded, pink-podded bean that is still early and productive. But we wanted to offer this mix for other folks to explore and select whichever pods and seeds speak to them!"

Let us know if you find what Chris and the crew are looking for!

GROWING TIPS: Plant as you would any other bush green bean, direct-sowing an inch deep and 8-12 inches apart, in well-prepared soil, well after all danger of frost has passed (and once soil has begun to warm up).