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Articles from Francis Rosenfeld | Selfgrowth.com
- For the Love of Athena - by Submitted on Jun 30, 2019 from Francis RosenfeldI don’t think the goal of traveling is to see places and learn things, often you get better images and information from photography catalogs and travel guides. The goal of traveling is to get immersed in the spirit of a place. The longer you stay in Greece, the more it becomes clear to you ...
Views: 362 - For the Love of Athena - by Submitted on Aug 22, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldI don’t think the goal of traveling is to see places and learn things, often you get better images and information from photography catalogs and travel guides. The goal of traveling is to get immersed in the spirit of a place. The longer you stay in Greece, the more it becomes clear to you ...
Views: 397 - Freezing Rain - by Submitted on Dec 02, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldHow does one use freezing rain in a sentence without spoiling everyone's mood? I heard it, early in the morning, while it was still dark outside, the sound you can't mistake for anything else other than maybe sandblasting. Ice pellets. Nice! With that the last of the annuals abandoned the ...
Views: 434 - French Mallow - by Submitted on Aug 12, 2015 from Francis RosenfeldLet me share a few things about this plant, some learned, some experienced. The learned facts first. French mallow originated in Europe and is as almost as old as written history. Some varieties are used as edible leafy vegetables and feature in traditional dishes from around the shores of ...
Views: 1029 - Fruit compote - by Submitted on May 14, 2015 from Francis RosenfeldI don't know how many people grew up with fruit compote as a staple of their diet. My grandparents made it throughout the summer to preserve fruit for the cold months. My grandmother's apricot compote was so good I still dream about it on occasion. Unfortunately, like most of my grandmother's ...
Views: 723 - Garden Color Theory - by Submitted on Mar 11, 2019 from Francis RosenfeldThe most common harmonies in the garden are derived straight from art color theory: monochrome, complementary, triadic, and analogous. The monochrome scheme is pretty straight forward. Same color, same hue. Everywhere. The complementary scheme is one of the most used in professional ...
Views: 517 - Garden in Bloom - by Submitted on Mar 18, 2019 from Francis RosenfeldThe one good thing about a cold spring is that the tree bloom lasts long enough to enjoy. The cherries, the dogwoods and the early magnolias covered the whole landscape in pink and white veils for over two weeks, it's very poetic. Now that good weather is finally here it brought with it the ...
Views: 446 - Garden in the making - by Submitted on May 21, 2015 from Francis RosenfeldThe new light shade flower beds are quickly coming to life with plants from all over the yard, a constant reminder that a perennial patch is the gift that keeps on giving. My garden of hellebores is actually happening. If there is anything I learned from many trial and error gardening ...
Views: 683 - Garden Phlox - by Submitted on Aug 20, 2018 from Francis RosenfeldGarden phlox makes a big impact in the garden, it grows over five foot tall and its clumps get larger as it becomes established. Even one or two of them can brighten up a garden, especially when nothing else is in bloom. This feature is particularly valuable towards the end of summer, when the ...
Views: 499 - Garden Sage - by Submitted on Apr 17, 2017 from Francis RosenfeldI had to give the sage a serious hair cut so that the struggling rose could emerge from under it. When plants thrive, they thrive. I’ve had this clump of sage for two years, and it expanded through all the seasons, including winter, only it knows why! I really don’t know what to do with sage, ...
Views: 683 - Garden Textures - by Submitted on Jul 02, 2018 from Francis RosenfeldThe difference between planting and landscape design comes from paying attention to seemingly unimportant details and one of them is texture. Its impact is even greater in the shade, where very few plants bloom. A well balanced shade border will have all of the following: Broad leaved ...
Views: 525 - Garden Textures - by Submitted on Sep 10, 2018 from Francis RosenfeldThe difference between planting and landscape design comes from paying attention to seemingly unimportant details and one of them is texture. Its impact is even greater in the shade, where very few plants bloom. A well balanced shade border will have all of the following: Broad leaved ...
Views: 533 - Gardening by the Moon - by Submitted on Jul 12, 2021 from Francis RosenfeldGardening by the moon is a bit of a contentious subject among farmers and gardeners; some swear by it and find it very useful in their practice while others dismiss it as total hooey. I haven’t tried it yet, so I’m only talking about it in the abstract. The basic tenet behind the practice is ...
Views: 414 - Gardening is Art - by Submitted on Apr 24, 2017 from Francis RosenfeldIt turns out flower gardening meets the criteria in the definition of art: it is a human activity dedicated to the creation of a physical item principally meant to be appreciated for its beauty and emotional impact. How much of it is the gardener’s input and how much of it is nature’s mercy is ...
Views: 620 - Gardening Superstitions - by Submitted on Mar 03, 2019 from Francis RosenfeldWhen you grow up around gardening activities you're sure to internalize a few old wives tales. Some of them are backed up by science, but most are just taken on faith and passed along from one generation to the next without any reason or explanation. Here are a few. If you want a plant ...
Views: 452 - Gardening Superstitions - by Submitted on Jun 09, 2021 from Francis RosenfeldWhen you grow up around gardening activities you're sure to internalize a few old wives tales. Some of them are backed up by science, but most are just taken on faith and passed along from one generation to the next without any reason or explanation. Here are a few. If you want a plant ...
Views: 297 - Gardening with hostas - by Submitted on Apr 13, 2015 from Francis RosenfeldAfter a few years of gardening I realized how much I take hostas for granted. They are ever present in the shade and will grow where no plant has grown before. Their relative worth of thriving in the shade tends to underscore their absolute value as ornamental plants, but hostas can hold their ...
Views: 682 - Geotropism - by Submitted on Jun 21, 2021 from Francis RosenfeldGeotropism is an incredibly sophisticated method through which a plant manages to use the same process to make its stems grow up and its roots reach down. If a plant is growing horizontally, instead of vertically, a plant hormone called auxin, which serves to inhibit cellular growth, sinks to ...
Views: 395 - Geraniums for Skincare - by Submitted on Jun 07, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldAfter a streak of sunny days, mother nature decided to bring the gloom, and I never pass the opportunity gloom provides to indulge in relaxation and pampering, isn’t this what rainy days were created for? The flower buds are on the brink of opening, but it looks like they decided to wait for ...
Views: 471 - Goldenrod, a medicinal? - by Submitted on Jul 18, 2016 from Francis RosenfeldI always thought of goldenrod as a dyer's plant and was surprised to learn that it has medicinal properties. Its Latin name, Solidago, literally means "to make whole", and puts goldenrod squarely in the wound healing category. It has other medicinal properties, too, mostly related to improving ...
Views: 545 - Good Bones - by Submitted on Feb 09, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldSuccessful winter garden design relies on color and structure. Winter gardens are minimalist, they need good bones to make up for the missing greenery. Strong trees with well defined shapes and interesting bark, artful topiary, even tall pampas grasses or colorful seed heads can provide that ...
Views: 461 - Good Soil, Naturally - by Submitted on Dec 04, 2017 from Francis RosenfeldAlthough I am an enthusiastic advocate of natural gardening, I wasn’t much of a fan of composting until I procrastinated one fall and left a sizable pile of leaves and stems out on a concrete slab, thinking that I would clean it up in spring. When spring arrived, to my surprise, everything but ...
Views: 601 - Gourds and Pumpkins - by Submitted on Sep 05, 2016 from Francis RosenfeldSquashes must be the most imaginative outcome of vegetable production. They start out a modest, vaguely round fruit and end up a mannerist commentary on surface topology. Fruits elongate and bubble at the end like hot glass, expanding curvilinear folds and dimples painted every shade of ...
Views: 610 - Grasses - by Submitted on Jul 28, 2021 from Francis RosenfeldI felt kind of guilty to see that the grass had gone to seed on my lawn, but then I saw it ripen in a lot of other places and relaxed, it seems the combination of warmth and plentiful rain gave it the oomph to grow wild this year. Because we're used to seeing it in its domesticated form - the ...
Views: 412 - Green Flowers - by Submitted on Jan 19, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldHave you ever had this sinking feeling, when you want to try a plant you’ve never grown before, and you look at the beautiful photos on the seed packet, that there is absolutely no way this botanical wonder will ever grow in your garden? I’m not one to dismiss instinct, it is usually based ...
Views: 479 - Green Tomatoes - by Submitted on Sep 20, 2016 from Francis RosenfeldEvery year the generous tomato plants bless us with an overabundance of fruit that doesn't have the chance to ripen before the first frost. Tomatoes take their sweet time to figure out how to bear more and more fruit and their best and most abundant yield goes so far into the fall they don't ...
Views: 570 - Ground Floors - by Submitted on Nov 18, 2019 from Francis RosenfeldThey are tiny, understated and barely a few inches above the ground, but don’t mistake their simple demeanor for meekness, they will take charge of a full area if left to their own devices: crawlers, ramblers and ground covers have the most aggressive spreading habits of the whole plant world. ...
Views: 444 - Growing hellebores - by Submitted on Nov 09, 2015 from Francis RosenfeldYou don't know how spoiled you are as a gardener until you grow a hellebore. Up here in the northern states we are not used to seeing flowers in January, maybe some evergreen foliage under a somber sky. Most of the trees are gray and leafless and the usual sights of the garden are tired dried ...
Views: 664 - Growing Peonies - by Submitted on Apr 03, 2017 from Francis RosenfeldThe peonies would have bloomed by now, the buds have been ready to burst for more than a week, but it is so unseasonably cold, weird May weather! Temperatures in the fifties, I almost have to question the wisdom of moving the basil outside, it looks miserable. Peonies are the object lesson for ...
Views: 655 - Growing peppercorns - by Submitted on Dec 14, 2015 from Francis RosenfeldYou look at this modest spice and find it hard to believe than all through Antiquity and the Middle Ages it was more valuable than gold. Pepper was the first of the exotic spices to reach the Mediterranean Basin and the search for it opened up travelling routes that became legendary and fired ...
Views: 731 - Growing sedum - by Submitted on Aug 24, 2015 from Francis RosenfeldBetween the apple green of the unripe flowers and the velvety chocolate brown of the dried seed heads sedum touches every shade of from blush pink to burgundy. Somewhere mid-way it reaches this hue intensity and contributes a significant portion of the fall garden color. Like with many ...
Views: 627 - Growing Tomato Plants - by Submitted on Apr 05, 2021 from Francis RosenfeldTomato plants are tough, their germination rate is spectacular and they will survive anywhere, but getting them to produce requires the right conditions and a little work. First, they need cultivated soil, slightly acidic, that contains a fair amount of organic fertilizer and they have to be ...
Views: 369 - Growing tuberoses - by Submitted on Feb 29, 2016 from Francis RosenfeldAah, the queen of fragrance, Polianthes tuberosa, a joy to gardeners and perfumers alike, probably the most fragrant flower ever. Its heady perfume is sultry and intense, a single flower stem can saturate a room with fragrance. Tuberosa is a hot climate bulb, and much like show chrysanthemums ...
Views: 635 - Harvesting Rain Water - by Submitted on Jun 27, 2016 from Francis RosenfeldHarvesting the rain doesn’t stop at installing rain barrels, it involves the entire garden and its principal goal is to keep the water from running off the plot onto paved areas, only to eventually end up in the storm drains. Careful planning can create places for the rain water to slow down ...
Views: 521 - Harvesting Seeds - by Submitted on Sep 17, 2018 from Francis RosenfeldCleome is a prolific self seeder. I gathered close to half a pound of seeds off of it last summer, and it still managed to populate the flower bed for the following year. It is beautiful, even though its flowers are a lot more subdued this year. Here’s the drawback: the original plants were ...
Views: 497 - Hellebores - by Submitted on Mar 23, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldHellebores are woodland plants, perfect to grow under the canopy of deciduous trees. They prefer alkaline soils - keep them away from pine trees - are adapted to the colder climate zones and are the first flowers in the garden, blooming as early as January during mild winters. They keep their ...
Views: 487 - Hepatica - by Submitted on Feb 22, 2016 from Francis RosenfeldHepatica has been considered a medicinal plant in the past, but this is one of the cases where scientific reasoning needs to override lore: the plant belongs to the Ranunculaceae family, just like the buttercup, and contains the same toxic compounds, albeit in much smaller doses. Hepatica is ...
Views: 684 - Herb Gardens - by Submitted on Jan 20, 2015 from Francis RosenfeldAs a child I used to watch with fascination as my grandfather's hands gently teased apart leaves and flowers and spread them over paper towels to dry in the hot still air of the attic. That attic looked much like an apothecary's shop with dried hot pepper bunches, hanging herbs, long braids of ...
Views: 815 - Herbs for Clay Soils - by Submitted on May 13, 2018 from Francis RosenfeldI know gardening wisdom says that most herbs thrive in poor soils, category that always includes clay for some reason, but in my experience that is not true. Many ‘poor soil’ herbs can’t be bothered to last a whole season in clay, not to mention come back the following year. For instance, ...
Views: 573 - High Drama - by Submitted on Jan 20, 2019 from Francis RosenfeldIf you want to create drama in your garden, by all means, pick all white flowers. People don’t usually crave intensity in a cottage garden, which is a care free collection of gregarious annuals and perennials suited to comfort the spirit rather than stir it up. Most of the cottage garden ...
Views: 539 - Home apothecary - by Submitted on May 10, 2016 from Francis RosenfeldAs nature's shop closes, the home spice jars are finally put to good use. All the dried mint that hung in bunches in the kitchen all summer, the rose petals from June's bloom, the lavender kernels, the gentle chamomile, the dried aromatic herbs. It is time for scent in the diminished light, ...
Views: 1420 - Hot Pepper Desserts - by Submitted on Aug 29, 2016 from Francis RosenfeldJust in case you got bored adding hot peppers to chili and stew I found some delightful dessert recipes to brighten your palate. We're all familiar with hot pepper jelly but have you heard of strawberry jalapeno poppers? They are not as you'd expect, jalapeno peppers stuffed with strawberry jam, ...
Views: 650 - How Do Deciduous Trees Go Through Winter - by Submitted on Oct 27, 2019 from Francis RosenfeldFirst chlorophyll breaks down and gets reabsorbed, allowing the other pigments to lend their colors to the foliage and turn it copper, red, yellow and orange. The tree sends a chemical called abscisic acid to the terminal buds, which shut down the flow of sap to the leaves, signaling them to ...
Views: 391 - How to Attract Bees to Your Garden - by Submitted on Jun 25, 2018 from Francis RosenfeldI love watching bees swarm the stonecrops on nice sunny afternoons. If a garden is thriving, the bees will come to visit, but if you want to entice them further, here are a few pointers. Avoid using insecticides, pesticides or harsh fertilizers. Bees like tiny flowers that make it easier ...
Views: 500 - How to Care for Daylilies - by Submitted on May 22, 2017 from Francis RosenfeldThe day lilies came with the house and they were already established when we moved in, so I didn’t pay much attention to their care. It showed. I used to take day lilies for granted because they are so ubiquitous in public and commercial outdoor spaces people see them as care free. That they ...
Views: 613 - How to grow a wildflower meadow - by Submitted on Mar 28, 2016 from Francis RosenfeldSo, you have your heart set on creating a wildflower meadow and those packages of mixed seeds beckon you from the stands, irresistibly. You picture wild flowers and the thought of perpetual, zero maintenance beauty springs to mind. Wild flower meadows are not low maintenance, at least not for ...
Views: 703 - How to grow vanilla orchids - by Submitted on Jan 26, 2015 from Francis RosenfeldHave you ever wondered what it takes to bring the sophisticated and aristocratic vanilla bean to you? I thought about it many times and figured if I ever had a greenhouse this would be the first plant I'd like to grow, so I wanted to learn more about it and this is what I found out. Vanilla ...
Views: 787 - How to Harvest Rain Water - by Submitted on Oct 24, 2016 from Francis RosenfeldHarvesting the rain doesn’t stop at installing rain barrels, it involves the entire garden and its principal goal is to keep the water from running off the plot onto paved areas, only to eventually end up in the storm drains. Careful planning can create places for the rain water to slow down ...
Views: 605 - How to Make Strawberry Preserves - by Submitted on Nov 06, 2017 from Francis RosenfeldINGREDIENTS: (1) bowl of strawberries, (2) pounds of sugar, (3) cups of water, juice from one lemon. Soak the strawberries in ice water for an hour. Change the water a couple of times so that it stays ice cold. Strain them and drain them on a towel. After they are dry, place them in a heavy ...
Views: 685 - How to make zacusca - by Submitted on May 04, 2015 from Francis RosenfeldNot sure what to do with your harvest? This is a traditional recipe from the Balkans that is usually made in large quantities to keep over the winter. The small batch below is for sampling, to test whether you would like to try it on a larger scale. It is served cold as a dip or as a sandwich ...
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