I am growing dwarf french beans (Safari) for the first time. Never grown beans before. I have had a good crop so far but I have picked everything and I can't see anymore flowers for future beans

Should there be more flowers and beans to come or is the season very short I can only expect beans for 4 weeks. I was hoping to be picking for longer than that.

Have I done something wrong such as not watered enough in the hot weather or is this normal and they are not worth the effort of growing.

Dwarf beans don't crop for long, just like with peas. You're meant to sow successionally, so that you have a constant supply, and the new ones come in just as the old ones peter out.

As above, dwarf beans are earlier to harvest but quicker to finish than climbing beans. Sow successionally every 3 weeks or so. Some varieties you can sow up to mid-July. Alternatively have some climbing beans growing as well for when the dwarf beans finish: our Purple Teepee and Rocquencourt dwarfs are just finishing but we are just starting to harvest the Cosse Violette climbing beans.

Today I thought about digging up the plants but on closer inspection since the end of last week some flowers have developed.

Hopefully beans will follow. Perhaps the cooler, wetter weather has induced more flowering.

Next year I will try sowing some beans 3 weeks after the first lot.

How early can I sow the first lot of beans. I don't have a greenhouse, only a small coldframe and previously I haven't planted out non hardy plants till after third week of May to be safe.

I find dwarf beans, like bush tomatoes, have a strong flush of flowers and fruit, then a lull, then mostly will produce a 2nd crop. With beans this can be a poorer crop of smaller, often curled beans, so you may prefer to sow successionally in future years, but if there are flowers forming you should get something more from them, weather permitting of course.

It's typical of the dwarf varieties to have a flush crop then not much. We do a mix of dwarf and climbing to get some early veg and then freeze the excess which is an easy process and worth the little effort required.