willow bean pole

There’s nothing like the flavor of pole beans fresh from the garden. And even more satisfying is growing  your own willow rods for making a trellis.

pole beans at Dunbar Gardens

I use some of the larger willow rods for pole beans. Varieties like Harrison’s or Continental Osier produce stout 8 to 10 foot rods. This year I also used some of the three year old peeled willow I showed in an earlier post about peeling willow bark. I put metal fence posts in about every 10 feet and run a heavy gauge wire along the top. Then I insert the dried willow rods several inches in the ground at an angle and tie them with a short piece of twine to the wire.

yellow romano beans

One of our favorite varieties to grow are these Italian yellow romanos – Meraviglia di Venezia.

Rufous Hummingbird on a willow bean pole

An added benefit is the fun watching the birds use the willow as a perch like this hummingbird waiting to zip down to the adjacent zinnias.

Rufous Hummingbird