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Articles from Francis Rosenfeld | Selfgrowth.com
- 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: 379 - 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: 379 - The Delightful Aromatics - by Submitted on Aug 24, 2019 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: 378 - 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: 376(1 vote) - 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: 376 - Vegetable Flowers - by Submitted on Apr 11, 2021 from Francis RosenfeldWhen I first started growing vegetables, I worried the veggie plot would look too utilitarian, with its lined up rows and its pedestrian supports. Imagine my surprise when I woke up one morning to a tapestry of egg yolk colored trumpets, larger than my hand, which gleamed in the morning sunlight ...
Views: 375 - 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: 371 - 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: 366 - Dividing Herbaceous Perennials - by Submitted on Mar 22, 2021 from Francis RosenfeldMost herbaceous perennials can be propagated by division: dig up the clump, tease it apart into several sections, making sure they all get a reasonable share of the roots, and replant them. Some root systems are really hard and gnarly, but plants are resilient; you can use a fork or a shovel ...
Views: 364 - 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: 364 - 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 - Northern Orchids - by Submitted on Nov 08, 2020 from Francis RosenfeldI couldn’t imagine my garden without the toad lilies, whose blossoms are as close to approximating a tropical orchids as any cold weather plant is ever going to get. Don’t get deceived by their fragile look, they are hardy to zones four through nine and just like their cousins, the spring ...
Views: 357 - 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: 357 - 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: 344 - 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: 341 - Spring Cleaning - by Submitted on Mar 08, 2021 from Francis RosenfeldThe last week of March usually brings warm, almost summer like weather, perfect for the long-awaited spring cleaning. It felt strange this year to find a reliable pattern in the middle of emptiness and uncertainty. I put the favorable weather to good use and finished the garden cleaning ...
Views: 330 - Collaborative Growth - by Submitted on May 16, 2021 from Francis RosenfeldEstablished gardens have a secret gardeners don't learn until they've spent many seasons watching them and caring for them: the group planting graciously indulges one or two species to rule the garden for a season, and those rights change every year, allowing all the plants the opportunity to ...
Views: 323 - 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: 300 - Nature's Healers - by Submitted on May 23, 2021 from Francis RosenfeldLong before the dawn of chemistry herbs held the honor of providing people with a readily available pharmacological treasure, foraged and cataloged by natural healers. Herbs may not be able to cure severe illness, not in their natural form, anyway, but they have the answer to the smaller things ...
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