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Articles from Francis Rosenfeld | Selfgrowth.com
- Damask Roses - by Submitted on Apr 17, 2021 from Francis RosenfeldIf you only have one rose in your garden, it should be a Damask. Another notable descendant of the old cabbage rose, the Damask is the complete package: exquisite fragrance, spectacular flowers, perpetual bloom, well-behaved growth habit and disease resistance. Whenever fragrance is ...
Views: 374(1 vote) - Grasses - by Submitted on Aug 09, 2020 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: 560(1 vote) - Green Fruit - by Submitted on Aug 31, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldYou will not believe the level of chaos nature can impose on a reasonably well tended garden in three weeks. It took the plants that long to look scary and me one week to salvage the back yard from the wilderness. Five foot tall weeds, cracked nutshells, broken branches, vines grown out of ...
Views: 550(1 vote) - Millefleur - by Submitted on Aug 16, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldEvery spring I plan on planting more annuals and every summer I fall short of the desired effect. At least this year I have an excuse: after clearing up the shrubbery from a large portion of the front yard, the design of a new perennial border became a priority. There seems to be a quiet ...
Views: 554(1 vote) - Perennial Gardens - by Submitted on Apr 09, 2018 from Francis RosenfeldA perennial garden is an aggregate entity, not a discrete collection of plants. There is a surprising amount of interdependency that needs to develop between the neighboring plants, an adjustment that takes years and happens mostly underground. By the time a perennial garden gets fully ...
Views: 496(1 vote) - Summer Garden Maintenance - by Submitted on Nov 01, 2016 from Francis RosenfeldSummer garden maintenance usually goes unnoticed, masked by the fervent activity of the plants themselves at the peak of their vegetative cycle. Because this is the season when a lot of the perennials rush to bloom, you don’t notice any glitches in the life of the garden unless you happen to ...
Views: 562(1 vote) - Caring for Bulbs During the Cold Season - by Submitted on Nov 07, 2016 from Francis RosenfeldWhen you plant bulbs, whether that happens in fall or spring, don’t forget to mix in a good measure of bone meal into the dirt, to help them set in and give them some food for the first year. Other than that, bulbs don’t need a lot of care. Because they are usually sprinkled among other ...
Views: 549(1 vote) - My Vegetable Garden - by Submitted on Apr 02, 2018 from Francis RosenfeldEvery year I’m looking forward to planting the miniature vegetable garden. I know this defies logic, given the amount of space I have available for it, but if I listened to logic I wouldn’t have ventured into gardening at all. It features the same plants every year: tomatoes, bell peppers, ...
Views: 540(1 vote) - 8degF - by Submitted on Jan 02, 2018 from Francis RosenfeldUsually the feast of St. John brings the coldest day of the year, but this time arctic weather was delayed for two weeks. I cozy up indoors with a hot cup of herbal tea and dreamy gardening books as the thermometer indicates 8 degrees Fahrenheit outside. No matter how enthusiastic one is ...
Views: 695 - A Breath of Humid Air - by Submitted on Sep 09, 2019 from Francis RosenfeldThe air has been steadily humid for a month now, cool and humid, it reminds me of foggy mornings in the mountains or tropical places in winter, it’s almost too cool for August, not that I’m complaining, mind you. Every now and then I catch a break between raindrops and get out into the garden ...
Views: 442 - A Celebration of the Sun - by Submitted on Apr 09, 2019 from Francis RosenfeldThere are many traditions, myths and folk tales associated with the summer solstice, many of which involve the herbs and plants that bloom around this time and whose medicinal and aromatic properties are said to be enhanced when gathered on the eve or morning of the solstice. I remember an ...
Views: 430 - A Celebration of the Sun - by Submitted on Apr 30, 2019 from Francis RosenfeldThere are many traditions, myths and folk tales associated with the summer solstice, many of which involve the herbs and plants that bloom around this time and whose medicinal and aromatic properties are said to be enhanced when gathered on the eve or morning of the solstice. I remember an ...
Views: 579 - A divine tree that fulfills wishes - by Submitted on Dec 07, 2015 from Francis RosenfeldI once wondered through a park under a shady canopy of green leaves, heavy with flowers and sweet fruit and flocks of colorful singing birds seeking shelter in the glossy foliage. The park extended for an entire city block and its tree branches reached sixty feet up in the air. Twisted trunks ...
Views: 669 - A Few Things About Tomatoes - by Submitted on Jul 24, 2017 from Francis RosenfeldThe temperatures heated up, the tomatoes started performing. Tomato plants don’t mind hot weather and will keep their composure even when more heat sensitive vegetables wilt pitifully, but they will not set fruit if the temperatures are above 85 to 90 degrees during the day or 75 at night. ...
Views: 609 - A love story - by Submitted on Nov 02, 2015 from Francis RosenfeldPeople ask gardeners all the time why they waste so much time and effort on an activity that at any scale smaller than a farm yields so little benefit? Green thumbs may be blindsided by the question, shrug their shoulders and keep on with the activity they were engaged in, for how can one ...
Views: 679 - About Bulbs - by Submitted on Feb 05, 2018 from Francis RosenfeldI could never resist a hyacinth. I always plant some in the fall, of course, and am sure the squirrels and rabbits really appreciate my efforts, so every year I end up replenishing the fall bulb supply with full grown winter plants, which spend a few weeks of pampered bloom indoors and are then ...
Views: 638 - About Gardening - by Submitted on Aug 09, 2021 from Francis RosenfeldI’ve been growing vegetables in my little garden for over ten years, and one may wonder what is the benefit of waiting four whole months to get an eggplant when there is a whole stand of them at the grocery store all the time, even in the middle of winter. What happens is that every year, ...
Views: 415 - About Growing Tomatoes - by Submitted on May 07, 2018 from Francis RosenfeldThe temperatures heated up, the tomatoes started performing. Tomato plants don’t mind hot weather and will keep their composure even when more heat sensitive vegetables wilt pitifully, but they will not set fruit if the temperatures are above 85 to 90 degrees during the day or 75 at night. ...
Views: 596 - About peonies - by Submitted on Aug 08, 2015 from Francis RosenfeldI didn't move the gorgeous Raspberry Sorbet peonies last fall and now they are spending another year trying to assert their needs in the midst of the rugosa rose thicket. Because of the one-two-three year garden rule and their slow start (they didn't come out of the ground at all during the ...
Views: 698 - About soil pH - by Submitted on Jan 17, 2017 from Francis RosenfeldSo, since I brought it up, a little more information about soil pH. The alkaline soil is quite easy to recognize, it’s usually clay, heavy, and out in the open, away from any large trees and shrubs, whose annual leaf drop helps acidify the soil. It tends to dry out on the surface, but deep down ...
Views: 593 - Achenes, capsules, pods and pomes - by Submitted on May 24, 2016 from Francis RosenfeldHere is next year's garden, well, at least part of it, anyway. The seeds will go into labeled little bags and wait for spring. The peppercorn look-alikes are four o'clock seeds, the tiny grains spilling from capsules belong to nicotiana, the red fruit is a "Hansa" rose hip and the rest is a ...
Views: 591 - All Summer's Glory - by Submitted on Aug 29, 2017 from Francis RosenfeldThere is a time around the middle of July when the garden looks absolutely resplendent. It feels like every flower is in bloom, competing for attention. The late spring blooms haven’t faded yet and the some of the late summer ones decide to show up early, so there is a surreal mix of seasons ...
Views: 583 - All Summer's Glory - by Submitted on Jul 18, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldThere is a time around the middle of July when the garden looks absolutely resplendent. It feels like every flower is in bloom, competing for attention. The late spring blooms haven’t faded yet and the some of the late summer ones decide to show up early, so there is a surreal mix of seasons ...
Views: 444 - All the Flowers of Spring - by Submitted on Oct 08, 2018 from Francis RosenfeldUsually around this time of year I start to panic, look around and wonder where everything went? Where are the flowers, where is the order, how am I ever going to dig myself out of the mountain of debris that becomes the fall garden. This is when I find it useful to revisit pictures from seasons ...
Views: 474 - All Things Lucky and Green - by Submitted on Dec 28, 2018 from Francis RosenfeldIt seems fitting, now at the end of the year, to make a list of plants that bring luck, you know, just in case. Let’s start with the classics: lavender and roses. No garden should be without them - lavender for luck, roses for love. Honesty and sage attract prosperity to the household. It ...
Views: 509 - And More Perennial Gardens - by Submitted on Jan 31, 2021 from Francis RosenfeldOne of the myths of gardening is that once you planted a perennial border it is set in stone and it will come back, year after year, exactly the same. That is not true at all, I look through pictures of my garden through the last few seasons and it is almost unrecognizable from one year to the ...
Views: 419 - Anise hyssop - by Submitted on Apr 12, 2016 from Francis RosenfeldI was walking through the plant nursery trying to decide what to add to the fall garden when a giant blue hyssop literally grabbed on to my sleeve. Its lavender flowers soaked the surroundings in a wildly intoxicating aroma of anise and licorice as I brushed against them, reminding me why hyssop ...
Views: 690 - Aromatic - by Submitted on Jun 17, 2021 from Francis RosenfeldA trip to the herb border in mid-summer is pure aromatherapy: the lemon verbena in the picture, for instance, smells so much like citrus it's used instead of lemons to flavor seafood dishes. During a sultry summer afternoon the herb garden is a symphony of scents: the lingering persistence of ...
Views: 420 - At the End of September - by Submitted on Sep 30, 2019 from Francis RosenfeldWith temperatures stubbornly stuck in the eighties and nineties I would have missed the beginning of fall this year but for the garden following its own internal clock: warmth or no warmth, once we passed the fall equinox, everything in the flower and vegetable border went into liquidation ...
Views: 387 - Attar of roses - by Submitted on May 02, 2016 from Francis RosenfeldImagine an open field of roses extending as far as the eyes can see, an eighty mile long garden. Hundreds of thousands of bushels of rose petals get picked, boiled and distilled, and re-distilled, and purified, until out of one thousand pounds of petals five ounces of precious attar of roses are ...
Views: 693 - August Flowers - by Submitted on Aug 14, 2018 from Francis RosenfeldThere is not much going on in the garden after mother nature rained and stormed and puffed the flower beds away. I spent the most part of yesterday cleaning up broken branches as thick as my arm that were strewn about the lawn, blocking access to my favorite spot in the back yard and ...
Views: 489 - August lily - by Submitted on May 26, 2015 from Francis RosenfeldI often mention that the garden has a will of its own and bends the intent of landscape design to seasonal whimsy. Last year it decided to take on a cool look in white and green right at the end of August when flower beds traditionally boast bright oranges, yellows and fiery reds. The ...
Views: 775 - Autumn Favorites - by Submitted on Sep 01, 2019 from Francis RosenfeldThe stonecrops are ghostly pale this fall and I'm not used to seeing them like that, normally they turn up rosy hues as soon as the middle of August; it must be the rain, they didn't have enough sunshine to start ripening. Despite the wet weather the fall bloomers are right on time - the ...
Views: 409 - Bath Salts, Creams and Oils - by Submitted on Nov 16, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldBath salts. The base of a bath salt is an equal mix of sea salt and baking soda. To this one adds other ingredients as one wishes: dried and powdered herbs, powdered resins, powdered milk, clays and muds, food coloring for effects, and of course essential oils. Go easy on peppermint and ...
Views: 727 - Beautiful Flowers to Grow in the Shade - by Submitted on May 29, 2018 from Francis RosenfeldThe shade border rests at the end of summer, when it gets too warm and too dry for its taste. Since last summer was cool and rainy, the plants maintained the exuberant growth of early spring. The hostas were lush and full, the begonias were in full bloom and the toad lilies doubled in ...
Views: 541 - Beautiful Flowers to Plant in the Shade - by Submitted on Jul 09, 2018 from Francis RosenfeldThe shade border rests at the end of summer, when it gets too warm and too dry for its taste. Since this summer was cool and rainy, the plants maintained the exuberant growth of early spring. The hostas are lush and full, the begonias are in full bloom and the toad lilies have doubled in ...
Views: 496 - Bee Trivia - by Submitted on Aug 26, 2018 from Francis RosenfeldThere must be a hive somewhere in the neighborhood, because bees visit my garden very often, to gather nectar from their favorite flowers. Sedums produce an abundance of it, and their small flowers make an insect's work a little easier. Did you know that a worker bee lives just forty days over ...
Views: 563 - Bee Trivia - by Submitted on Aug 23, 2021 from Francis RosenfeldThere must be a hive somewhere in the neighborhood, because bees visit my garden very often, to gather nectar from their favorite flowers. Sedums produce an abundance of it, and their small flowers make an insect's work a little easier. Did you know that a worker bee lives just forty days ...
Views: 413 - Bells of Ireland - by Submitted on Feb 19, 2018 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: 595 - Bells of Ireland - by Submitted on Dec 17, 2018 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 on ...
Views: 519 - Betony - by Submitted on Jan 25, 2016 from Francis RosenfeldDid you know that betony was thought to chase away vengeful ghosts, evil enchantments and bad dreams? I'm not acquainted with its alleged magical properties or even the real medicinal ones (apparently it was a prized healing herb in the ancient herbal medicine collection, supposed to provide ...
Views: 619 - Black Cohosh - by Submitted on Jul 30, 2018 from Francis RosenfeldBlack Cohosh has everything a shade gardener can dream of. It grows six to eight feet tall and produces these almost surreal wands of rosy white fuzzy flowers that smell like honey and bloom abundantly against the background of its strikingly dark foliage in full shade from mid-summer to the end ...
Views: 499 - Bladder Campions - by Submitted on May 15, 2017 from Francis RosenfeldThis is an edible plant, widely used around the Mediterranean Basin to flavor omelets, pasta and risotto. Its young greens make a tasty addition to meals when stewed in a little olive oil, just like chards and spinach. It can be eaten uncooked, but the raw leaves taste bitter because they ...
Views: 650 - Bugleweed - by Submitted on Feb 08, 2016 from Francis RosenfeldAjuga reptans, bugleweed, is a fail proof groundcover for any sun exposure or soil type. I started with its Latin name because I always thought it sounded more patrician and better suited to this plants' sophistication. I love bugleweed, it is a versatile plant which helped me bring back to ...
Views: 650 - Bugleweed - by Submitted on Dec 05, 2016 from Francis RosenfeldAjuga reptans, bugleweed, is a fail proof groundcover for any sun exposure or soil type. I started with its Latin name because I always thought it sounded more patrician and better suited to this plants' sophistication. I love bugleweed, it is a versatile plant which helped me bring back to ...
Views: 573 - Bulb gardens - by Submitted on Apr 20, 2015 from Francis RosenfeldBulbs are to gardening what frozen puff pastry is to baking: a versatile ingredient that can be planned into the menu or used as a quick fix for large still undefined settings. You set a mass planting of layered bulbs in the fall and get a work free garden the next year. People usually ...
Views: 640 - Bulb Propagation - by Submitted on Feb 20, 2017 from Francis RosenfeldIf you would like to try your hand at serious bulb propagation, a method often used by professional growers, especially for hyacinths, is called scooping, and it is known to produce up to thirty bulblets from a single bulb. Clean and dry a large and healthy hyacinth bulb and scoop out the ...
Views: 700 - Bulb Propagation - by Submitted on Nov 20, 2018 from Francis RosenfeldIf you love root division you’ll be happy to know that it works for bulbs too, via scaling, slicing, scooping and scoring. Scaling is a propagation method that seems almost custom designed for lilies, whose bulbs “bloom” naturally, turning them into tiny clusters that look like artichokes. ...
Views: 513 - Bulb Propagation - by Submitted on Nov 24, 2019 from Francis RosenfeldIf you love root division, you’ll be happy to know that it works for bulbs too, via scaling, slicing, scooping and scoring. Scaling is a propagation method that seems almost custom designed for lilies, whose bulbs “bloom” naturally, turning them into tiny clusters that look like artichokes. ...
Views: 452 - Bulbs for Summer and Fall - by Submitted on Oct 10, 2017 from Francis RosenfeldToad lilies are the last flowers of the year, at least in the garden. They start blooming mid-October, to keep company to the already brown seed heads of the sedums, and they stay in bloom until November, braving the first frosts. People tend to associate bulbs with spring, and ignore their ...
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