Pole beans for shady side of house?

[gtaus]

On my shady side of the house, I have an above ground deck and rail. There is wood lattice on the bottom 4 feet around the deck, then the railing on the deck is about another 3 feet. This totals 7 feet. We have unsuccessfully attempted to plant climbing vines on the lattice/deck. I think Dear Wife bought the wrong kind of vines and they just did not grow in the shade. My idea is to plant something green, but edible, such as pole beans that could grow up the lattice and the deck railing. But the beans would have to be able to grow in shade. On that side of the house, it is under shade until 3 pm, and then it gets sunlight.

Any recommendations for shade tolerant pole beans (in northern Minnesota) that might grow and produce? Any recommendations on other climbing food plants that I could consider? Thanks for any thoughts.

 

[Callender Girl]

Love this idea. Hope someone offers some good advice -- so I can try growing whatever is suggested, too!

 

[CluckerFamily]

This isn’t a vine but spinach, lettuce and kale does well in the shade. You could add pots to the trellis to make a tiered hanging garden.

 

[Sally PB]

1) Peas and green beans like cooler temperatures. They need some sun (about four to five hours per day) to produce flowers and pods, but they tend to fade out as the temperature warms. Planting them in a cool shady spot will lengthen your growing season. Bush beans are a better choice for shade than pole beans.
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2) The Genuine Cornfield Bean is an old original Iroquois bean traditionally grown on corn in hills. These do work well with partial sun. Other beans that work well is the Cherokee Cornfield Bean and many of the other more rarer Cherokee and Iroquois beans. Production is not effected by partial shade. Another good one would be Faulkner's Cornfield Bean, an old Kentucky heirloom that the Appalachian Heirloom Seed Conservancy has available. Give any of these a try, they will do well for you.
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3) Pole Snap Bean, Withner's White Cornfield​

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Here's some info I just found on the internet. I had never thought beans would grow in less than full sun, but if you think about it, Three Sisters Planting would be less than full sun.

 

[gtaus]

This isn’t a vine but spinach, lettuce and kale does well in the shade. You could add pots to the trellis to make a tiered hanging garden.

I do have some of those cool weather/shade plants in pots on my deck. My wooden trellis is not strong enough to hang pots on it.

 

[gtaus]

Here's some info I just found on the internet. I had never thought beans would grow in less than full sun, but if you think about it, Three Sisters Planting would be less than full sun.

Thanks @Sally PB. I did a lot (couple hours) of searching on internet late last night and I did find out about the cornfield type pole beans as used in the Three Sisters Planting. So that is on my list of seeds to look for today. I did not think about peas, so I'll check out some snap pea/sugar pea seeds today. I planted some sugar peas last year in the garden - in full sun - but they never grew well. Maybe too much sun? Anyway, good idea to try growing them in partial shade.

 

[gtaus]

Love this idea. Hope someone offers some good advice -- so I can try growing whatever is suggested, too!

Thanks @Callender Girl. I have had this idea for a few years, but Dear Wife outvoted me on this issue and insisted on planting some flowering vines. I think if the vines would have grown out like she expected, then we both would have been happy with the trellis and deck covered with green leaves and flowers.

As it was, she ordered some vines from QVC, maybe 10 plants, and only 1 survived. I knew from the start that they were doomed, because when I asked Dear Wife if those flowering vines were good for shade in northern Minnesota (zone 3), she just looked at me with a blank stare and said, "look how pretty they are on the picture."

First year she planted all 10 vines, only 2 or 3 showed any growth. The next year, only 1 vine remained. This year, nada. So Dear Wife has given up on that project and now it's my turn. I prefer to grow things that I can eat. That's how I think. If I do find some beans that grow in the shade, I hope they have enough flowers on them that Dear Wife can also enjoy looking at them.

 

[TheAlrightyGina]

I would suggest peas instead of beans. There are more that like shade and plenty of ornamental ones that will give you gorgeous flowers.

 

[MissE]

My peas are in partial shade and do well. The trellis I grow beans on runs north to south, and I plant along both side, so basically, one side is semi shaded in the morning and the other is semi shaded in the afternoon. I have done Three Sisters planting with good results, so I think some shade is ok.

I should add I am also northern MN, zone 3.

 

[gtaus]

I would suggest peas instead of beans. There are more that like shade and plenty of ornamental ones that will give you gorgeous flowers.

Thanks. I have grown bush beans with some success, but don't have much experience with pole beans. Also, the peas I planted out in the garden - in full sun - did not produce. So I'll look for peas with nice flowers. That should make Dear Wife happy.

Is there any reason I could not plant both beans and peas in the same area, like put down a pea seed, then a bean seed, then a pea seed, etc... along the trellis line?