french bean cropping pattern/varieties

bookmonster

So this year I grew french bean 'cosse violette'. I planted them in early May, and first harvest was 20 July. I haven't recorded dates with each harvest so it's not quite right - in the first month there were several harvests a month, then less often- but this is the cropping pattern roughly:

Are there other varieties that wouldn't tail off so quickly? I know weather plays a part.

Dovefromabove

I find most French bean types crop fairly heavily for a relatively short period of time compared with runner beans. 

This year we grew Firestorm ... a runner x French bean hybrid. They cropped early and heavily  but as you say, tailed off quickly. As there are just the two of us I had to freeze more than I usually do, but we were eating the frozen ones by the beginning of September and in other years we’d still have beans being produced in the garden. 

purplerallim

I have found french beans crop heavily for two months and I am pulling them out by September.  This for me is fine as I want some for the summer and some to freeze. String beans always crop too heavy for me and the varieties I have tried need more preparation and turn stringy fast.
This year has been a poor bean crop for me, but it seems I wasn't the only one affected this way.

bookmonster

@purplerallim I think the miserable June didn't help

BobTheGardener

I agree, the weather here gave a reduced cropping period for all types of beans for me this year.  I'm going to try successional sowing next year, sowing 3 batches at 3 week intervals to see if that helps both in prolonging the cropping period but also in at least one set getting conditions leading to uninterrupted growth at a critical stage.  I grew a few french climbers in a partially shaded greenhouse border this year, with lettuce at the bottom and they did well and lasted longer than those outside.  That may have been due to the more regular watering and closer attentionto picking them before seeds formed though.

purplerallim

It took two sowings to get any to germinate,  and then it was late and only a small crop. Am going to get new seed next year.

Skandi

I had two types of French beans Fandango and Purple teepee Teepee managed 6 weeks of cropping every 3 days, and then another half harvest about 3 weeks after and fandango did 5 weeks straight both peaked in week 2-3 of their harvest window, with Purple teepee producing Twice as much as Fandango.

I also had firestorm (runner/french cross) I found it rather tasteless compared to my normal Scarlet emperor and also later to start. It did crop for 9 weeks before frost took it out.