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Nice article but no mention of pole beans and how easy they are to grow while taking up a small space, not to mention how ornamental they are. Also, the asparagus or yard-long type of snap beans are great. Easy to grow and very productive. Also very tasty. I've grown the mosaic, red noodle and an unknown green variety of asparagus beans - all are great. I like the red noodle a lot and the mystery green (showed up in the red noodle seeds) taste like fresh peas! you get a lot of beans from the asparagus beans as they are so long (up to 27" so far)
I've been making some great salads with them along with my heirloom tomatoes and cukes.
You're right! Whether you grow bush beans or pole beans, you can find some wonderful stringless "snap" varieties. For that matter, "stringing" beans isn't that big a chore, and some of the older varieties that have the "string" also seem to have extra wonderful flavor.
I grew asparagus and red noodle beans a couple years ago... we ate them in stir-fry, where we could put strongly flavored sauce on them. Maybe I wasn't picking them at a young enough stage... they had a musky flavor that we didn't especially love. From your description, I'm tempted to try them again. They were definitely productive!
I've got some pretty runner beans blooming now, and the hummingbirds are enjoying them. I think they're 'Painted Lady' (red blooms), although I'll have to check to be sure.
