Oregon · Washington · Idaho
When to plant pole beans
Plant in the garden: Portland and Seattle May 10 – Jun 14; Spokane May 15 – Jun 19; Boise May 1 – Jun 5; Bend Jun 16 – Jul 21.
Your dates in
Pole beans are climbing beans that twine up a pole or trellis, grown mainly for green pods, and they keep producing as long as you keep picking. Classic varieties include Blue Lake, Kentucky Wonder and flat Romano types. Runner beans, whose red flowers draw hummingbirds, are a related climbing species.
Puts pole beans on your free plan, with dates for your town and a spot in your beds.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Sun
- Full sun
- Spacing
- 4 to 6 inches apart along a trellis
- Planting depth
- 1 inch deep
- Frost
- Killed by frost
- First harvest
- About 65 days after planting
Climb 6 to 8 feet and keep producing for weeks. Put up the trellis before you sow. Like bush beans, they need warm soil.
Pole bean planting dates
| Towns | Plant in the garden |
|---|---|
| Portland, OR, Seattle and Tacoma, WA | May 10 – Jun 14 |
| Spokane, WA, Astoria, OR | May 15 – Jun 19 |
| Boise and Meridian, ID | May 1 – Jun 5 |
| Bend and Redmond, OR | Jun 16 – Jul 21 |
Dates for six main cities. For any of the other 80 towns, type it in the box at the top of the page or browse all towns.
| Gresham, OR, Hillsboro and Beaverton, OR, Oregon City and West Linn, OR, Portland, OR, St. Helens and Scappoose, OR, Wilsonville and Canby, OR | May 10 – Jun 14 |
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| Corvallis and Albany, OR, Cottage Grove, OR, Eugene, OR, McMinnville and Newberg, OR, Salem, OR | May 10 – Jun 14 |
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| Ashland and Talent, OR | May 13 – Jun 17 |
|---|---|
| Grants Pass, OR, Medford, OR, Roseburg, OR | May 10 – Jun 14 |
| Astoria, OR, Brookings and Gold Beach, OR, Coos Bay and North Bend, OR, Newport and Lincoln City, OR, Tillamook, OR | May 15 – Jun 19 |
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| Bend and Redmond, OR, Klamath Falls, OR | Jun 16 – Jul 21 |
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| Burns, OR | Jun 18 – Jul 23 |
| Lakeview, OR | Jun 11 – Jul 16 |
| Madras, OR | May 26 – Jun 30 |
| Prineville, OR | Jun 8 – Jul 13 |
| Baker City, OR | Jun 1 – Jul 6 |
|---|---|
| Enterprise and Joseph, OR | May 31 – Jul 5 |
| Hermiston, OR, Pendleton, OR | May 3 – Jun 7 |
| Hood River, OR | Apr 27 – Jun 1 |
| John Day, OR | Jun 4 – Jul 9 |
| La Grande, OR | May 15 – Jun 19 |
| Ontario, OR | Apr 28 – Jun 2 |
| The Dalles, OR | Apr 25 – May 30 |
| Bremerton and Port Orchard, WA, Everett, WA, Kent, Renton and Auburn, WA, Olympia, WA, Seattle and Tacoma, WA, Shelton, WA | May 10 – Jun 14 |
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| Anacortes, WA, Bellingham, WA, Friday Harbor and the San Juans, WA, Mount Vernon and Burlington, WA, Oak Harbor and Whidbey Island, WA | May 10 – Jun 14 |
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| Aberdeen and Hoquiam, WA, Forks, WA, Long Beach and Ilwaco, WA | May 15 – Jun 19 |
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| Port Angeles, WA, Port Townsend, WA, Sequim, WA | May 10 – Jun 14 |
| Centralia and Chehalis, WA, Longview and Kelso, WA, Vancouver, WA | May 10 – Jun 14 |
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| Chelan, WA, Wenatchee, WA | Apr 25 – May 30 |
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| Leavenworth, WA | May 17 – Jun 21 |
| Omak and Okanogan, WA | May 15 – Jun 19 |
| Winthrop and Twisp, WA | May 22 – Jun 26 |
| Ellensburg, WA, Yakima, WA | May 15 – Jun 19 |
|---|---|
| Ephrata and Quincy, WA | Apr 29 – Jun 3 |
| Goldendale, WA | May 26 – Jun 30 |
| Moses Lake, WA, Tri-Cities (Pasco, Kennewick, Richland), WA | May 4 – Jun 8 |
| Sunnyside, Grandview and Prosser, WA | May 8 – Jun 12 |
| Walla Walla, WA | Apr 25 – May 30 |
| Colville, WA, Pullman, WA, Spokane, WA | May 15 – Jun 19 |
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| Bonners Ferry, ID, Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls, ID, Sandpoint, ID | May 15 – Jun 19 |
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| Lewiston, ID | Apr 25 – May 30 |
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| Moscow, ID | May 15 – Jun 19 |
| Boise and Meridian, ID | May 1 – Jun 5 |
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| Emmett, ID | May 7 – Jun 11 |
| McCall, ID | Jun 29 – Aug 3 |
| Nampa and Caldwell, ID | May 6 – Jun 10 |
| Burley and Rupert, ID, Pocatello, ID | May 15 – Jun 19 |
|---|---|
| Idaho Falls, ID, Twin Falls, ID | May 16 – Jun 20 |
| Rexburg, ID | May 19 – Jun 23 |
| Salmon, ID | May 25 – Jun 29 |
Pole bean year at a glance
| Task | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plant | May | Jun | ||||||||||
| Harvest | Jul | Aug | Sep |
Around Portland. Colder towns, especially east of the Cascades, run a few weeks later; the table above has your town's planting dates.
How to grow pole beans
- Prepare the bed: loosen the soil and mix in an inch or two of compost.
- Plant seeds on your city's dates, 1 inch deep, 4 to 6 inches apart along a trellis.
- Keep the soil evenly moist until sprouts appear, which can take one to three weeks in cool soil.
- Harvest: Pick when pods are pencil-thick and before the seeds bulge. Picking every few days keeps the vines producing.
Growing pole beans in your part of the Northwest
The same plant behaves differently on the wet west side, the foggy coast and the dry, colder east side.
West-side valleys
Willamette Valley, Puget Sound, southern Oregon
Pole beans do well once the soil warms in late May and give a longer harvest than bush beans. Older varieties like Blue Lake have long been grown in Oregon.
Coast
Oregon and Washington coast
Pole beans can struggle to ripen in cool, foggy summers. Plant against a warm, sunny wall or fence, or grow bush beans instead.
East of the Cascades
Columbia Basin, Yakima, Boise, Spokane, north Idaho
Pole beans love the heat but drop blossoms in very hot, dry spells. Set trellises sturdy enough for summer wind, and water deeply.
High desert and mountain towns
Central Oregon, high eastern Oregon valleys, McCall, Salmon
The season is often too short and cool for pole beans to give much. Bush beans are more reliable.
More pole bean varieties
More widely sold picks that do well somewhere in the Northwest. The tag says which part of the Northwest suits each one best.
Blue Lake FM-1K
The famous Blue Lake flavor on vigorous vines with straight, round, stringless pods. Excellent fresh, canned or frozen, and a longtime Northwest staple.
Both sides
Kentucky Wonder
A heavy-yielding heirloom with rich, beany flavor and flat pods. Pick young for snap beans or let some mature for dry beans.
Both sides
Fortex
Very long, slender, stringless pods that stay tender even at 10 inches. Known for outstanding flavor and a long picking season.
Both sides
Scarlet Runner
Bright red flowers attract hummingbirds, and the pods and beans are edible. Runner beans set pods better in cool summers than common beans, which suits the coast.
Coast and west side
Rattlesnake
Green pods streaked with purple that are tasty as snap beans, plus speckled dry beans. Vigorous vines tolerate heat and keep producing.
Both sides
Purple Podded Pole
Deep purple pods that are easy to spot when picking and turn green when cooked. A vigorous, productive heirloom that handles cool weather fairly well.
Both sides
How much to grow
How many to plant
For a family of four, 10 to 15 feet of trellis, or 3 to 4 teepees.
What to expect
About 1 pound per foot of trellis over the season, often more than bush beans.
Storing the harvest
Keep a week in a bag in the fridge. Blanch and freeze, or can, extras.
What to plant after pole beans
Around Portland, the pole bean harvest wraps up around September. These crops can still go into the same bed, and they come from a different plant family, which helps with rotation.
- Mâche Aug 13 – Sep 17
- Spinach Aug 20 – Sep 10
- Mustard greens Aug 20 – Sep 10
- Cilantro Aug 27 – Sep 10
- Arugula Aug 27 – Sep 17
- Radishes Sep 3–17
- Garlic Oct 1 – Nov 15
- Shallots Oct 1 – Nov 15
Mâche 
Spinach 
Mustard greens 
Cilantro 
Arugula 
Radishes 
Garlic 
Shallots Portland dates. Pick your town at the top of the page for yours.
Key numbers
- 70–80°F, not below 60°FSoil to sprout
- 6.0–7.0Soil pH
- 6–8 feetTrellis height
- Seed rot in cold soilBiggest risk
Top care tip: Keep picking every few days once pods form, and the vines produce until fall.
Growing notes
What makes the difference in Northwest gardens, in plain language.
Wait for warm soil
Bean seeds soak up water fast as they sprout, and in soil below about 60°F they swell but sit still, which gives rot fungi time to move in. In much of the west side that means waiting until late May or early June. A soil thermometer takes the guessing out of it.
Sow dry seed into moist soil instead of soaking it first, which can crack the seeds. If a spring is cold and wet, it's better to sow a week late than to resow a rotted row.
Trellis and feeding
Pole beans climb 6 to 8 feet, so build a sturdy trellis, teepee or fence before sowing; adding one later tramples seedlings. Beans twine on their own and just need something thin to wrap around, like string or netting.
Beans partner with soil bacteria that fix nitrogen from the air, so they need little fertilizer. Compost at planting is usually enough. Too much nitrogen gives lush vines with few pods. Steady water while flowering matters more, since dry spells make flowers drop.
Pests and problems
Slugs and bean seed flies attack seedlings in cool, damp springs; warm soil helps plants race past both. Aphids sometimes cluster on tips, and a strong spray of water knocks them back. In hot, dry eastern gardens, spider mites can speckle leaves yellow in midsummer, and keeping plants watered helps. White mold can show up in crowded, wet plantings, so give vines room and water at the base. Rotate beans to a new spot each year.
Good neighbors and crop rotation
Good neighbors
- Lettuce and spinach. Grow in the shade of the trellis in summer.
- Corn. A sturdy support for the vines once it's a foot tall.
Pea and bean family: Rotate peas and beans every two or three years to keep root rots from building up. Their roots host bacteria that fix nitrogen, but most of it leaves in the pods and seeds, so they help the next crop only a little unless you dig the plants back in.
Pests and problems
What most often goes wrong with pole beans in Northwest gardens, how to spot it and what to do.
Seed rot
Signs: Seeds never come up in cold, wet soil.
What to do: Wait until the soil is about 60°F.
Slugs
Signs: Seedlings chewed off at the soil.
What to do: Slug bait and planting into warm soil.
Bean rust or mildew
Signs: Rusty spots or white powder on the leaves in late summer.
What to do: Space for airflow and clear the vines away in fall.
Saving pole bean seed
Will it come true?
Like bush beans, pole beans pollinate themselves, so open-pollinated varieties like Blue Lake and Kentucky Wonder come true from saved seed.
How to save it
Let the last pods of the season dry on the vine until they rattle, or pull the vines and hang them under cover if fall rain comes first. Shell, dry another week, and freeze for a few days to kill any weevils. Store dry seed in a labeled paper envelope in a cool, dry place.
Common questions about growing pole beans
When should I plant pole beans in Oregon, Washington and Idaho?
Plant in the garden: May 10 – Jun 14 in Portland and Seattle, May 15 – Jun 19 in Spokane, May 1 – Jun 5 in Boise and Jun 16 – Jul 21 in Bend. Pick your town at the top of the page for your own dates.
Are pole beans better than bush beans?
Pole beans produce over a longer season, often for many weeks, and take up less ground since they grow up. Bush beans produce sooner and need no trellis, but give most of their crop in a couple of weeks. Many gardeners grow both.
Why are my bean flowers falling off?
Usually stress: hot spells above about 90°F, dry soil, or very cool nights. Keep the soil evenly moist and the plants will set pods again when the weather settles.
Why are my pole beans tough and stringy?
They were picked too late. Once the seeds inside bulge, the pods turn fibrous. Pick every few days while pods are pencil-thick; Blue Lake FM-1K and Fortex stay tender longer than many.
See what else to plant in May or June.
Peas
Fava beans
Bush beans