Bountiful Bush Bean
Phaseolus vulgaris 'Bountiful'
A tried-and-true heirloom from 1898 that lives up to its name with incredibly heavy yields of tender, stringless pods. This variety is prized for its long harvest window and ability to produce well even in less-than-ideal conditions. Gardeners love its reliability and the fact that it continues producing over several weeks rather than all at once.
Harvest
48-55d
Days to harvest
Sun
Full sun
Zones
2–11
USDA hardiness
Difficulty
Easy
Planting Timeline
Showing dates for Bountiful Bush Bean in USDA Zone 7
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Bountiful Bush Bean · Zones 2–11
Growing Details
Zone-by-Zone Planting Calendar
| Zone | Indoor Start | Transplant | Direct Sow | Harvest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 1 | — | — | July – August | September – August |
| Zone 2 | — | — | June – August | September – September |
| Zone 11 | — | — | January – March | April – May |
| Zone 12 | — | — | January – March | April – May |
| Zone 13 | — | — | January – March | April – May |
| Zone 3 | — | — | June – July | August – October |
| Zone 4 | — | — | June – July | August – October |
| Zone 5 | — | — | May – June | August – September |
| Zone 6 | — | — | May – June | July – September |
| Zone 7 | — | — | April – June | July – August |
| Zone 8 | — | — | April – May | June – August |
| Zone 9 | — | — | March – April | May – July |
| Zone 10 | — | — | February – April | May – June |
Succession Planting
Direct sow every 10–14 days starting around April 1 in zone 7, continuing through late June. That spreads your harvest across July and August instead of dumping everything at once. 'Bountiful' reaches maturity at 48–55 days, so a June 20 sowing should finish before the worst of August heat stalls pod set. Stop sowing once daytime highs are consistently above 90°F — beans will flower but drop them without forming pods in that kind of heat.
Georgia usually allows a fall succession as well. Sow again around August 1–10, once temperatures start easing off, and aim to finish before first frost — typically mid-October in zone 7b. That fall planting also helps with soil-borne disease pressure from bacterial blight and anthracnose, since you're not running beans continuously through the same ground all season.
Complete Growing Guide
Bountiful Bush Bean can be direct sown straight into the garden soil once all danger of frost has passed and the soil temperature reaches at least 60°F, ideally 70°F or warmer. Unlike many other varieties, this heirloom doesn't require indoor starting and actually performs better when direct seeded. Wait until your last spring frost date has safely passed, then plant seeds about one inch deep, spacing them two to three inches apart in rows that are eighteen inches apart. Once seedlings emerge and develop their first true leaves, thin them to stand four to six inches apart. The extra breathing room allows each plant to reach its full bushy potential and supports the heavy pod production this variety is famous for.
Prepare your planting area with well-draining soil enriched with compost or aged manure worked in several weeks before planting. Bountiful Bush Bean prefers slightly acidic to neutral soil with good organic matter content, which improves both water retention and nutrient availability. Full sun exposure of at least six hours daily is essential for maximizing yields, so choose your location carefully. This variety is remarkably forgiving of less-than-ideal soil conditions compared to many beans, but drainage is still critical—waterlogged soil invites root rot and fungal problems.
Water consistently throughout the growing season, providing about one inch per week through rainfall or irrigation. Keep the soil evenly moist but never soggy, particularly once flowering begins. Feed with a balanced fertilizer when plants start flowering, then repeat every three weeks if growth seems sluggish. Nitrogen-heavy feeding should be avoided, as it promotes foliage at the expense of pod production.
Watch closely for Mexican bean beetles, which are especially aggressive on bush beans and can devastate plants quickly. Scout daily during peak season and remove beetles and orange egg clusters by hand when populations are low. Aphids and bean leaf beetles also pose significant threats to this variety. Cutworms may damage seedlings at soil level, so consider protective collars around young plants. For disease management, provide good air circulation by avoiding overhead watering, which encourages bacterial blight and anthracnose. Remove any yellowing or spotted leaves promptly, and rotate planting locations yearly to reduce carryover of bean mosaic virus and rust spores.
The key technique many gardeners overlook with Bountiful Bush Bean is succession planting. This variety's extended harvest window is best exploited by making new sowings every two to three weeks from late spring through mid-summer, staggering your harvest and ensuring continuous productivity. Many gardeners plant once and miss the opportunity to extend their bean season significantly.
Harvesting
Harvest Bountiful Bush Beans when pods reach four to six inches long and snap cleanly when bent, before they become tough or bulge noticeably with mature seeds. The pods should be bright green and tender to the touch, yielding slightly to pressure without feeling papery or leathery. Unlike varieties that produce all pods simultaneously, Bountiful delivers a continuous harvest over several weeks, so pick regularly every two to three days to encourage sustained production rather than single-harvest timing. Early morning picking, when pods are crisp and full of moisture, yields the most tender beans with optimal flavor and texture.
The boat-shaped seed pods are bilaterally symmetrical and can be green, yellow, white, or purple at maturity. There is a wide variety of color and shape choices among cultivars.
Color: Gold/Yellow, Green, Purple/Lavender, White. Type: Legume. Length: > 3 inches. Width: < 1 inch.
Garden value: Edible, Good Dried
Harvest time: Fall, Summer
Storage & Preservation
Fresh Bountiful beans store best unwashed in perforated plastic bags in the refrigerator crisper drawer, maintaining quality for 5-7 days. For longer storage, blanch beans in boiling water for 3 minutes, then plunge into ice water before freezing in airtight containers—they'll keep for 10-12 months.
This variety excels for canning due to its meaty texture that holds up well to processing. Follow USDA guidelines for pressure canning green beans. For drying, allow some pods to mature until beans rattle inside, then shell and store dried beans in airtight containers. Bountiful's tender, stringless pods also make excellent pickled dilly beans—their uniform size and crisp texture create professional-quality results that maintain their snap even after processing.
History & Origin
First introduced in 1898, 'Bountiful' emerged during a period of active American seed development and represents the practical breeding priorities of that era—reliability and consistent production over novelty. While specific breeder attribution is not well documented in readily available sources, the variety reflects the work of commercial seed houses that dominated late-nineteenth-century bean breeding. Its development likely drew from existing bush bean germplasm selected for productivity and pod quality. The variety's persistence in cultivation for over 125 years suggests it filled a genuine need among both market gardeners and home growers, establishing itself as a foundational cultivar within American bean-growing traditions rather than a named-breeder creation.
Origin: Tropical America
Advantages
- +Proven heirloom variety with over 125 years of reliable garden performance
- +Produces abundant stringless pods with excellent tender, meaty flavor
- +Extended harvest window means weeks of continuous bean production
- +Thrives in suboptimal growing conditions where other varieties struggle
- +Easy to grow making it ideal for beginner and experienced gardeners
Considerations
- -Susceptible to multiple bean diseases including bacterial blight and mosaic virus
- -Vulnerable to several common garden pests like Mexican bean beetles
- -Requires preventive pest management to achieve advertised heavy yields
Companion Plants
Marigolds — French marigolds (Tagetes patula) specifically — are worth planting at the ends of your bean rows. They deter Mexican bean beetles and bean leaf beetles, two of the pests the UGA Vegetable Garden Calendar flags as top threats in zone 7 Georgia gardens. Summer savory is the other one worth prioritizing; it's been grown alongside beans for a long time and is reputed to repel bean beetles, plus it's a genuinely useful herb to have nearby at harvest time. Radishes are a practical third choice: their 25–30 day cycle lets you tuck them between bean transplants early in the season, and their taproots break up soil crust without competing for the deeper moisture 'Bountiful' draws on.
Keep onions, garlic, and fennel out of this bed. Onions and garlic produce sulfur compounds that inhibit the Rhizobium bacteria living on bean roots — those bacteria are doing the nitrogen-fixing work that makes beans valuable in rotation, and alliums undercut it directly. Fennel is broadly allelopathic and tends to stunt nearby vegetables; give it its own isolated spot rather than letting it drift into a bed where beans are trying to establish.
Plant Together
Marigold
Repels bean beetles, aphids, and nematodes while attracting beneficial insects
Carrots
Help loosen soil for bean roots and don't compete for nitrogen
Cucumber
Beans provide nitrogen that cucumbers need, while cucumbers provide ground cover
Radish
Fast-growing radishes break up soil and are harvested before beans need space
Nasturtium
Acts as trap crop for aphids and cucumber beetles, repels bean beetles
Summer Savory
Repels bean weevils and may improve bean flavor and growth
Corn
Provides partial shade and wind protection for bush beans
Lettuce
Benefits from nitrogen fixed by beans and provides living mulch
Keep Apart
Onion
Can stunt bean growth and reduce yields through root competition
Fennel
Inhibits growth of beans through allelopathic compounds
Garlic
Releases compounds that can inhibit bean germination and growth
Nutrition Facts
Per 100g serving. % Daily Value based on 2,000 calorie diet. Source: USDA FoodData Central (FDC #2346400)
Pests & Disease Resistance
Resistance
Good tolerance to heat and drought stress, moderate disease resistance
Common Pests
Mexican bean beetles, aphids, bean leaf beetles, cutworms
Diseases
Bacterial blight, bean mosaic virus, anthracnose, rust
Troubleshooting Bountiful Bush Bean
What you'll see, why it happens, and what to do about it.
Leaf edges and chunks missing, often with a lacy or skeletonized look, appearing around weeks 4–7
Likely Causes
- Mexican bean beetle (Epilachna varivestis) — adults and larvae both feed on leaf tissue from the underside
- Bean leaf beetle (Cerotoma trifurcata) — chews irregular holes through the leaf surface
What to Do
- 1.Check leaf undersides daily once plants are 3 inches tall; hand-pick egg clusters (yellow, upright ovals) and larvae into soapy water
- 2.Apply spinosad or neem oil if you're finding more than a handful of beetles per plant — UGA's Pest Management Handbook lists both as options for home gardens
- 3.Next season, rotate beans out of that bed for at least 2 years; Mexican bean beetles overwinter in nearby debris and return to the same spot
Water-soaked spots on leaves or pods that turn brown and papery, sometimes with a reddish-brown border, showing up after a stretch of wet weather
Likely Causes
- Bacterial blight (Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola or Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. phaseoli) — spreads fast in humid conditions
- Anthracnose (Colletotrichum lindemuthianum) — leaves sunken, dark lesions on pods and stems
What to Do
- 1.Stay out of the bed when foliage is wet — both pathogens move easily on hands and tools
- 2.Pull and bag (don't compost) any heavily infected plants; cut overhead watering and switch to a soaker hose delivering 1 inch per week at ground level
- 3.Don't replant beans or other legumes in that bed for 2–3 seasons; start with certified disease-free seed each year
Pale, mottled leaves with alternating light and dark green patches, sometimes with leaf curl or stunted new growth
Likely Causes
- Bean common mosaic virus (BCMV) — seed-borne and also transmitted by aphids (Aphis fabae and related species)
- Aphid colonies building up in spring, weakening plants and vectoring the virus at the same time
What to Do
- 1.Pull and discard any plant showing mosaic patterning — there's no cure once infected, and leaving it standing gives aphids a source to spread from
- 2.Knock back aphid colonies with a hard spray of water or insecticidal soap applied to leaf undersides; check every 3–4 days
- 3.Buy fresh seed each year from a reputable supplier; 'Bountiful' carries some BCMV resistance, but old saved seed can harbor the virus regardless
Frequently Asked Questions
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Growing Guides from Wind River Greens
Where to Buy Seeds
Sources & References
External authority sources used in compiling this guide.
See the Methodology page for how this data is sourced, what's AI-assisted, and known limitations.