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Articles from Francis Rosenfeld | Selfgrowth.com
- 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: 22 - The Scent of Heliotrope - by Submitted on Aug 01, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldThere is something very sweet and nostalgic about this plant, with which I got acquainted in literary works before we met in real life. What is it that I find so fascinating about heliotrope? I don't know. Maybe it's its deep purple flowers that glow like gems wrapped in dark foliage, maybe ...
Views: 39 - Purple Belles - by Submitted on Jul 26, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldYou would think that hostas, like the shade plants with broad foliage that they are, would love nothing more than a rainy summer, right? Partially. They developed luxurious foliage, and yes, the large fragrant ones did bloom, but not as abundantly as they usually do. You are looking at a picture ...
Views: 50 - 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: 50 - Delightful Aromatics - by Submitted on Jul 11, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldAromatics come in two flavors: kitchen herbs and medicinals. A few herbs cross over from one category to the other, rosemary and lavender would be good examples of that, although using lavender for cooking is a bit of an acquired taste. Almost everybody has grown kitchen herbs on a sunny ...
Views: 57 - Sunshine and Heliotrope - by Submitted on Jul 05, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldI’m sitting on the balcony staring at my purple cherry pie plant, which looks happy as a clam basking in the sunshine in the company of butter yellow petunias. I don’t know why I haven’t tried heliotrope before, it’s an old fashioned cottage garden favorite and mine is a cottage garden. Some ...
Views: 60 - The Secret Lives of Plants - by Submitted on Jun 30, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldIf you ever watched a time lapse footage of a plant you can’t see the botanical world the same again. Nobody questions the fact that plants are living entities, but since their lives unfold at a speed so much slower than our own, one gets it intellectually, but rarely at gut level. The most ...
Views: 66 - Container Gardening - by Submitted on Jun 21, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldContainer gardening sneaks up on you. You start with one potted plant and pretty soon the entire patio or balcony is covered in them, looking almost indistinguishable from the adjacent flower bed. If you have lots of plants in pots, keep them grouped. That way the containers get some ...
Views: 78 - Charming in the Shade - by Submitted on Jun 15, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldShade gardening grew on me, literally. I don’t know how fast trees grow, but it’s fast enough and those lovely giants of the vegetal world can cover a lot of territory, both above ground and below. That’s how I ended up with every flavor of shade known to horticulture. In this situation, if ...
Views: 87 - 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: 78 - Summer's Door - by Submitted on Jun 01, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldSummer is knocking on the door a month early and it brought with it sweltering temperatures more suitable for the middle of July; it arrived so suddenly it gets difficult for us poor humans to adjust. Everything tripled in size in a matter of days, desperately springing into bloom as if not to ...
Views: 95 - Roses - by Submitted on May 28, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldOnce the rose enchants you you become a life time devotee. In all fairness who can deny this blossom anything, I mean anything, really? For what other flower would you suffer through the scratches and the winter protection and the constant fending off of beetles and blackspot and the capricious ...
Views: 109 - Veggies to Start Outdoors - by Submitted on May 21, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldSome plants don’t benefit from being started indoors. There are a few reasons for this: their tender foliage has a hard time adjusting to the change of environment, their roots dislike being disturbed or their growth schedule is so accelerated that they outgrow their starting containers too ...
Views: 92 - Tulips? Yes, please! - by Submitted on May 10, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldI always plant tulips. I’ve had beautiful ruffled pink ones, and fringed parrot ones, standard, double, lily flowering, you name it, I’ve tried them. I rarely see any in my garden. They don’t like the soil or the light levels, or something, or maybe they get eaten over the winter, who knows? ...
Views: 84 - Lilacs - by Submitted on May 04, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldEvery year when I enjoy the abundant bloom and fragrance of my Miss Kim lilac I count myself lucky for my tendency to procrastinate. I put off pulling what looked like a dead shrub for an entire summer and fall, only to be surprised with blooming branches the following spring. Lilacs are ...
Views: 100 - Early Spring Border - by Submitted on Apr 27, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldThe area I’m really looking forward to this year is the herb garden. I must have just the perfect soil for herbs, because they’re thriving, every one I planted doubled in size. The herb patch concept started as a wheel, but the space allocated has the wrong shape, so it follows the wild and ...
Views: 131 - Spring Cleaning - by Submitted on Apr 20, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldIt doesn't really look like spring in the garden until the spring cleaning is done. I rushed through it for a few hours between rains, so I didn't have a chance to pay close attention to the perennials that were already out. The sprucing up attracted a few visitors from the wilderness - a ...
Views: 90 - Veggies to Start Outdoors - by Submitted on Apr 12, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldSome plants don’t benefit from being started indoors. There are a few reasons for this: their tender foliage has a hard time adjusting to the change of environment, their roots dislike being disturbed or their growth schedule is so accelerated that they outgrow their starting containers too ...
Views: 107 - Sweet Violets - by Submitted on Apr 07, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldEvery summer I plan to thin the violets and every summer I change my mind at the last minute, and this picture is the reason why. How can I pull these delicate flowers that cover the earth in spring in every shade of blue between aqua and indigo? Sweet violets are to the flower bed what ...
Views: 116 - Starting the Vegetable Garden - by Submitted on Mar 31, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldHere’s to this year’s crop! I decided to try Independence Day tomatoes, and learned that it has a much lower germination rate than other varieties. Let’s hope they make up for it with taste. The seedlings look sturdy and enthusiastic, and have grown large enough that I don’t have to worry ...
Views: 89 - 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: 136 - Special Hybrids - by Submitted on Mar 17, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldI know this is a task for October and not February, but since the weather turned sour and put the excitement for gardening activities on hold again, I thought I’d put together a list of interesting daffodil varieties to consider next fall. Flower Drift is a double daffodil with pure white ...
Views: 100 - The Land of Pretty Flowers - by Submitted on Mar 09, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldWhat makes a beautiful perennial garden? There is no recipe or guarantee, but I can list a few things I noticed over the years that all thriving gardens have in common. Work with the land you have I know this ingredient can be supplanted by a simply unreasonable amount of work and earth ...
Views: 124 - The First Day of Spring - by Submitted on Mar 02, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldThe plants got the message that winter is over. Every year this message comes in secret, in subtle ways that only plants seem to understand, but they all get it simultaneously and come back to life with a speed and enthusiasm that always humbles me, even after so many years of gardening. This ...
Views: 120 - Spring Care for Roses - by Submitted on Feb 24, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldBoth of the rose cuttings I started last fall have rooted, judging by the new growth, but I’m not taking the jars off of them until the weather turns really warm. The roses are usually the first to get attention in my garden, before the spring cleaning or tending to the grass, so let’s talk ...
Views: 126 - How to Prune Roses - by Submitted on Feb 19, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldThere is something I'm looking forward to this spring: I can't wait to find out if the two roses I started from cuttings last fall took root. It's almost time to start caring for roses, now that the threat of killing freezes is over and before they come out of their dormancy. If you are ...
Views: 128 - 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: 135 - Charming Tangle - by Submitted on Feb 02, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldIf you want a real cottage garden, don’t tame it, it is supposed to be wild, messy and overgrown, sort of jumbled together without too much focus on height hierarchy and perfect color schemes. Many of its traditional plants are tall, broad and thick and spill over railings, fences, trellises ...
Views: 124 - 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: 141 - The Fountain at the Center of the Garden - by Submitted on Jan 12, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldThe fountain at the center of the garden was a staple of medieval landscape design. Its simple yet powerful symbolism was derived from necessity, but speaks to that part of the soul that envisions water as healing and life giving. Nowhere is a tiny fountain more at home than at the center of a ...
Views: 136 - Sun Exposure - by Submitted on Jan 05, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldEven though the three basic sun exposures are full sun, part sun and shade, the latter comes in so many variations, all with their own little quirks, that it deserves a full chapter all to itself. Full sun exposure means eight hours or more of direct sunlight a day, without any large elements ...
Views: 117 - The Garden That Keeps on Giving - by Submitted on Dec 30, 2019 from Francis RosenfeldIf you have established perennials, they are a readily available source of new plants for your garden. Most herbaceous perennials can be propagated by division. In spring, for fall blooming perennials, and fall, for spring blooming perennials, dig up the clump, break it up into smaller ...
Views: 146 - Northern Light - by Submitted on Dec 21, 2019 from Francis RosenfeldAs we left the shore and I looked back at the beautiful, surreal landscape of Horseshoe Bay, it felt like all the worries and the cares of the world were also left behind to fade into the distance. The vast, placid waters worked their magic on me too, as they did on so many travelers throughout ...
Views: 145 - Sleeping Garden - by Submitted on Dec 16, 2019 from Francis RosenfeldIf you were wondering what happens to your perennials during their winter hibernation, here goes. At the approach of winter they transform the sugars developed through photosynthesis into starch, which they can store inside their roots long term and use during the winter in the same way ...
Views: 156 - Skin Pampering - by Submitted on Dec 07, 2019 from Francis RosenfeldThere is nothing like a gentle facial to cleanse the skin and make it glow and there are plenty of ingredients in the kitchen cupboards for a nourishing face mask. Let’s go over a few classics. Honey - it works by itself as a gentle exfoliator or it can be mixed with other ingredients like ...
Views: 159 - Open Fields - by Submitted on Dec 01, 2019 from Francis RosenfeldThe familiar jumble of the cottage garden has evolved from a strange mix of prairie and woodland natives. I say strange because dame’s rocket and cone flowers require very different conditions and yet they happily coexist in the sunny border like they were meant to grow together. Their care ...
Views: 209 - Cold Front - by Submitted on Dec 01, 2019 from Francis RosenfeldThe winter arrived, somewhat tentative but for good. Yesterday it snowed with the large and fluffy kind of flakes which form when the air is still warm. At least the garden is ready: the flower beds are mostly cleared of leaves, the bulbs are in the ground, the trellisses and the pots are ...
Views: 170 - 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: 182 - 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: 148 - Winterizing - by Submitted on Nov 11, 2019 from Francis RosenfeldThe winter arrived, somewhat tentative but for good. Yesterday it snowed with the large and fluffy kind of flakes which form when the air is still warm. At least the garden is ready: the flower beds are mostly cleared of leaves, the bulbs are in the ground, the trellisses and the pots are ...
Views: 154 - The Fullness of Summer - by Submitted on Nov 03, 2019 from Francis RosenfeldA rose garden at the height of summer is a breathtaking sight. At this time the June roses haven't faded yet and all the repeat bloomers start their flowering season. Many once blooming roses repeat sporadically in the fall if the weather suits them, but if you want a consistent display of ...
Views: 176 - 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: 167 - Weather Musings - by Submitted on Oct 20, 2019 from Francis RosenfeldI read last year's entry entry for this week and got reminded of how remarkably consistent the weather and garden patterns are: the first snow, the January cold streak, the first bloom. They follow nature's implicit schedule almost to the day. It just dawned on me that I could read up a few ...
Views: 177 - Companion Gardening - Planters - by Submitted on Oct 14, 2019 from Francis RosenfeldFinding good companion planting is even more important when the plants are stuck together in a container. I watched the denizens of assorted pots fight for dominance many a time and more often than not one species brazenly asserts its rights over the sun, water and nutrients and ends up owning ...
Views: 167 - Perpetuals - by Submitted on Oct 05, 2019 from Francis RosenfeldSome annuals are such reliable self-seeders they can pretty much hold their own with their perennial counterparts. They are usually wild meadow flowers, a little rugged but relentless in the propagation of their species. I still find tall bell flowers from two years ago, blooming where I ...
Views: 158 - 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: 175 - Mushrooms - by Submitted on Sep 24, 2019 from Francis RosenfeldEveryone is familiar with this weird characteristic of mushrooms: they spring out of the ground overnight, fully grown, whenever they get a good rain and enough warmth to trigger their development. You go to sleep with a lawn and wake up to a mushroom hatchery. The good news is that mushrooms ...
Views: 177 - Hybrids - by Submitted on Sep 16, 2019 from Francis RosenfeldIn the world of plants the word hybrid immediately brings forth a specific image: greenhouses filled with long tables covered in little potted plants, perfectly tended to by a diligent team of professional growers and fed a perfect blend of nutrients to optimize their development. The truth ...
Views: 170 - 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: 174 - 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 ...
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