Spring rains made for curious occurrences in the garden

Q. Some of my plants grew in a peculiar fashion this year. Beans that I seeded in the spring grew extra-large but healthy-looking leaves. Flowers developed, but they almost all fell off. The same thing happened to the strawberries, which also grew huge leaves, but developed few flowers and berries.
A. This happened in many gardens this past spring, because of the extended period of cool, rainy weather. Copious rainfall (and over watering) leads to over-lush foliage at the expense of flowering an