Planting guide

When to plant shelling bean

Beans grown for the seed inside, like borlotti and cannellini, then dried for winter soups. In Melbourne it goes in Oct–Mar.

Start as: Seed, sown in place
Ready in: 12–17 wks
Spacing: 10 cm
Depth: 3 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Easy
Frost-tender: Yes, plant after the last frost

When it goes in

● means shelling bean can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Melbourne	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Brisbane	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Perth	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Adelaide	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Gold Coast	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Newcastle	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Sunshine Coast	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Canberra	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Central Coast	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Geelong	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Wollongong	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Hobart	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Townsville	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Cairns	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Darwin	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Mandurah	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Bendigo	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Launceston	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Mackay	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Rockhampton	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Coffs Harbour	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Blue Mountains	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Bunbury	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Bundaberg	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Alice Springs	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mildura	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Port Macquarie	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Wellington	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Christchurch	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
London	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Chicago	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Austin	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Toronto	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Johannesburg	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Singapore	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mumbai	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Paris	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant shelling bean

Sow 3 cm deep once the soil is warm.
Give climbers a 2 m trellis.
Water regularly while the pods fill.
Let pods dry on the plant; shell and store.

Shelling bean varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Borlotti Classicbush · heirloom · 13–16 wksCream-and-red-speckled beans for soups and stews
Cannellini Classicclimbing · 14–17 wksWhite Italian kidney bean for soups and salads
Black Turtle Classicbush · 12–14 wksBlack dry bean for chilli and Mexican food
Tiger's Eye Adventurousbush · heirloom · colourful · 13–16 wksGolden-brown striped Chilean bean with creamy texture
Yin Yang Adventurousbush · heirloom · colourful · 12–14 wksBlack-and-white orca-like beans; looks as good as it tastes
Jacob's Cattle Adventurousbush · heirloom · colourful · 12–14 wksRed-and-white speckled bean, bakes beautifully

Where to buy seeds

Search on The Diggers Club Search on Seeds of Plenty Search on Happy Valley Seeds Search on Amazon

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Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Corn, Carrot, Summer savory

Shelling bean by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Dwarf Green Bean · Climbing Bean · Edamame · Pea · Broad Bean · Peanut

Not sure shelling bean is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now