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Articles by Francis Rosenfeld

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319 articles by Francis Rosenfeld · showing 50

Browse every published article connected to Francis Rosenfeld, or search within this exact expert archive.

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

At the End of September

With 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 mode. The autumn faithfuls, the stonecrops, are putting up a good show with their gradual color change from chartreuse to dark brown but everything else got the message that it’s time to retire for the season and shut down production.

Primary topic: Gardening

444 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Charming blues

Gardens have personalities, just like people. You can plant your garden, but it will decide what stays and what goes. Mine decided it likes blue flowers. Maybe it is the clay soil that gives the plants the alkaline mix they need, maybe it's the dappled shade that promotes the growth of woodland bulbs, I don't know, but my plants tend to shift to the blue-violet end of the spectrum. Spring is the bluest season of all, covered in violets, grape hyacinths, irises, blue eyed Mary, forget-me-nots, creeping veronicas and bugleweed.

Primary topic: Gardening

697 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Bugleweed

Ajuga 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 life several locations with dry shade where few other plants thrive. It tends to get invasive in full sun exposure and rich soils.

Primary topic: Gardening

720 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Morning glory

I plant morning glory every year. Always in the same spot, always the same variety – Heavenly Blue. I forget about it after I plant it, it is slow to start in spring and its foliage gets lost in the jumble when the mid-summer growth takes over the flower beds. Come August, its growth accelerates enthusiastically, especially if summer rains have been plentiful, and it swallows up its supports, clambering eagerly to the highest point it can find, and only there it starts to bloom.

Primary topic: Gardening

681 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

What's in a name

Being vague in gardening often yields hilarious results. I will apply myself to relea ing horticulture basics next season, and heed the experts' advice to be specific about what I'm planning to plant. Here are a few lessons I learned this year. Paying attention to the correct Latin designation of Saint John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) makes the difference between getting the familiar medicinal plant and getting a gangly bog native (Hypericum pyramidatum) that keeps its flowers open for all of five minutes.

Primary topic: Gardening

615 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Fall Perennials

By the time sedum starts to bloom autumn is not too far behind, and since every year I have the same problem, which is that the fall landscape turns into a sea of mums in every color known to man, I made a list of other perennials to get a little variety during the cooler months. Between the obedient plant, the goldenrod, the Japanese anemones and the asters there should be plenty of flowers for the fall garden. Monkshood has spectacular purple-blue flowers and blooms in the fall, but it is very toxic, so be careful.

Primary topic: Gardening

539 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

The Glow of Late Afte oons

Everything looked radiant in the glow of the golden hour, before the sunset dimmed it to violet and blue. This surreal light quality created halos around everything, lighting up the late daffodil blossoms from inside like so many tiny lante s. I stayed outside for as long as I could and took many pictures, I didn’t want to miss this little slice of heaven that opened fleetingly before my eyes. Every day there is a chance for the golden hour, but the actual occurrence of one is quite rare, especially so early in the year.

Primary topic: Gardening

520 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Jack in the Pulpit

I know that Jack in the Pulpit is not the only living thing that changes genders in order to adapt to its circumstances, but I still think it is a cool enough fact to mention. The plant starts out male and if in time it finds its location accommodating and its nutrient supply adequate, it becomes female and produces fruit, beautiful red berries that pepper the forest floor throughout the summer. If over its lifetime it stumbles upon a lean year it will turn male again until conditions improve.

Primary topic: Gardening

658 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Millefleur

Every 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 understanding among the plants that every year a precious few will get to shine while the others considerately fade into the background. It's not something you learn from gardening books, the garden teaches the gardener a thing or two over the years.

Primary topic: Gardening

651 views5/5 (1)

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Season's End

One of the perks of keeping a garden is stumbling upon little joyful moments when time stands still and life flows softly through, peaceful and unhurried. Time slows down so we have enough of it to notice how bright the sunlight looks, reflected in the gold and orange leaves of the maple trees, how the long clouds cross each other in the periwinkle sky, how contours lose their sharpness and how a bronze hue underlies the colors; subtle changes, slow changes, not tethered to our speed at all.

Primary topic: Gardening

497 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Charming in the Shade

Shade 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 you care about flowers at all you become an expert in shade loving perennials really fast. Shade is tricky, you have to charm it.

Primary topic: Gardening

554 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Collaborative Growth

Established 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 shine. Perennial borders are collective entities, in which the plants thrive together, as opposed to individually, and they look different from one year to the next because you are looking at different blooming species.

Primary topic: Gardening

427 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Color for the heart of summer

I must start with a confession: I'm not really fond of daylilies. They are ever present in generic plantings, in places that don't really belong to anybody but still need to look presentable. They owe this dubious reputation to the fact that once planted they really require no care. I grew up with daylilies because they were the go to plant for difficult shady spots in my grandfather's garden. Lately I began to realize they are really beautiful plants, they look spectacular in mass plantings and they are happy to fill areas where no other plants would thrive.

Primary topic: Gardening

665 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Garden Textures

The 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 plants, both deciduous and evergreen. If the leaves are variegated and have different indentations, that is even better. A few good examples are hostas, elephant ears, hellebores, rhubarb and chards. Succulents.

Primary topic: Gardening

573 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Bulb Propagation

If 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. Scaling lily bulbs is the easiest propagation method available, you just dig them up, tease the scales gently apart and replant them in the desired location.

Primary topic: Gardening

522 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

My Back Yard Beauty

My beautiful is preparing for winter and there's not much I can do about it so I'm starting next year's planning early. There are never enough annuals or spring bulbs, so those are definitely on the list, especially for the new garde I started early this summer and which, with loving care, I hope will mature into a carpet of bloom.

Primary topic: Gardening

509 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Kitchen garden marigolds

Isn't this beautiful? Few annuals are easier to grow than marigolds, a quality that makes them so ubiquitous one tends to overlook their genuine charm. All a marigold needs is sunshine, everything else it will do for itself. Of course, because I planted mine in the vegetable patch, they were blessed with an extra helping of fertilizer and water and that made them extra enthusiastic.

Primary topic: Gardening

716 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Winter Blossoms

I wasn’t sure if I should go out into the garden and attempt to take pictures, ‘cause what are you gonna find in this climate in the middle of winter, but then I remembered the hellebores. What glorious plants they are, evergreen and blooming in January as if weather is not one of their conce s! I had them in the back yard for a few years and still can’t adjust to the idea of winter bloom, especially since spring seems to make us wait longer and longer each year, or maybe it just feels like that to me, because I loathe the cold season.

Primary topic: Gardening

562 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Roses for landscaping

It is amazing what special status roses have in gardens! A gardener will move a tree, completely restructure a flower bed and change the location of a patio before they decide to touch an established rose. New homeowners who inherit roses plan their entire gardens in ways that feature and complement them.

Primary topic: Gardening

661 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Millefleur

Every 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 understanding among the plants that every year a precious few will get to shine while the others considerately fade into the background. It's not something you learn from gardening books, the garden teaches the gardener a thing or two over the years.

Primary topic: Gardening

448 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

How to Make Strawberry Preserves

INGREDIENTS: (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 non-stick pan in alte ating layers with sugar and end with a thick layer of sugar on top. Squeeze the juice from half a lemon on top. Cover the pan with a cheese cloth and let stand over night in a cool place for 10 to 12 hours.

Primary topic: Gardening

762 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Lilacs

Every 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 great plants for cold climates and alkaline soils, but they don’t like shade or having their feet wet. A lilac bush flowers on old wood, so if you must prune it, keep in mind that you may lose bloom for up to three years.

Primary topic: Gardening

433 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Mushrooms

Everyone is familiar with this weird characteristic of mushrooms: they spring out of the ground ove ight, 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.

Primary topic: Gardening

470 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Caring for Indoor Plants

Plants that grow in pots on the window sill like pretty much the same things as the ones cultivated in the garden: a good amount of natural light, sufficient water and a little bit of help in the form of fertilizer every now and then. That being said, indoor plants have their own set of needs that have to be addressed in order to keep them healthy and, fingers crossed, blooming, and they are as follows.

Primary topic: Gardening

653 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Hybrids

In 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.

Primary topic: Gardening

556 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

The Delightful Aromatics

Aromatics 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 kitchen sill or in a pot on the patio at some point: parsley and dill, oregano and marjoram,tarragon and chives, basil and sage.

Primary topic: Gardening

451 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Country Garden Favorites

The country garden relies on scent just as much as it does on color and texture. Gertrude Jekyll popularized this garden design, praising the care free style of cottage perennials.

Primary topic: Gardening

640 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Daylilies

It’s not summer until the day lilies bloom and they usually do so before the fourth of July in anticipation of the joyous celebration. For a few weeks the whole garden turns blazing orange and after the flowers fade, their foliage slowly dies down to the ground to make room to the late summer bloomers. Not all day lilies bloom all summer, for instance these, a triploid variety called “Kwanso”, do not.

Primary topic: Gardening

602 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Medicinal foods

Stinging nettles are quite amazing plants, full of qualities both medicinal and nutritional, but who cares when their blistering touch burns like judgment and brings you to tears?

Primary topic: Gardening

647 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Hot Pepper Desserts

Just 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, but hollowed strawberries filled with cream cheese and hot pepper paste. Check out this recipe if you like trying new things.

Primary topic: Gardening

712 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

The Land of Pretty Flowers

What 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

Primary topic: Gardening

441 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Growing Tomato Plants

Tomato 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 watered generously, sometimes twice a day if the weather is hot, especially if they grow in containers. Try to water them at the base to discourage black spot. If they don't get full sun they won't produce at all. I know. I tried.

Primary topic: Gardening

470 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Morning Glory

I plant morning glory every year. Always in the same spot, always the same variety - Heavenly Blue. I forget about it after I plant it, it is slow to start in spring and its foliage gets lost in the jumble when the mid-summer growth takes over the flower beds. Come August, its growth accelerates enthusiastically, especially if summer rains have been plentiful, and it swallows up its supports, clambering eagerly to the highest point it can find, and only there it starts to bloom.

Primary topic: Gardening

631 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Summer Night Rain

The rain started right before midnight, with a soft, somewhat tentative thunder announcing it from afar, almost as if it was asking itself whether or not it had the right time. I listened to it for a while, reliving a memory. The sounds, the scents of rain, removed from sight, speak to the soul in the same way your favorite old sweater comforts you, without you even being aware of it, that sweater you can grab from the closet without looking.

Primary topic: Gardening

646 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

The basics of home food preservation

Just a few rules that will make your food preservation safe and successful: 1.Processing Temperatures. Foods suited for canning are divided into acidic (<4.6 PH) - basically all fruits, tomatoes, sauerkraut and all acid added products (pickles) and non-acidic (4.6PH or more) - vegetables, meats, fish and mixed sauces. Acidic canned products need to be boiled (212F degrees) and non-acidic canned products need to be pressure canned (240F degrees or more) to ensure the botulinum spore is destroyed.

Primary topic: Gardening

758 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Sweetness and Perfume

Since the beginning of my gardening journey I wished for a fragrance garden, so I planted the well known scented flowers like sweet peas, lilies, and carnations. The garden surprises you, though, because that heavenly scent, that fragrance that fills the air and seems to originate nowhere doesn't usually come from these plants. Have you ever wondered around your flower patch trying to trace a delightful fragrance and had trouble finding its source? Some of the perfume masters come as a surprise, others are quite obvious.

Primary topic: Gardening

956 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Bulb Propagation

If 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. Scaling lily bulbs is the easiest propagation method available, you just dig them up, tease the scales gently apart and replant them in the desired location.

Primary topic: Gardening

577 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Garden Color Theory

The 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.

Primary topic: Gardening

572 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

All the Flowers of Spring

Usually 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 past and wax nostalgic over the dewy roses and the cheerful daffodils and the overabundance of violets. I hold on to the flowers of spring.

Primary topic: Gardening

538 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Dividing Herbaceous Perennials

Most 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 to pry them apart if you need to, they won't mind. Plant the divisions immediately to avoid transplant stress and water them generously. This helps the plants settle into their new locations and ensures there are no air pockets around their roots.

Primary topic: Gardening

453 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Working with annuals

Creating themes with annuals is almost like painting, you can create infinite variations of color, contrasting and analogous harmonies, focal points and diffusion hues. The rules are the same as those of basic color theory, with the difference that the components of your art piece are alive. If you plan the garden well at the beginning of the year you will be able to carry the color theme successfully through the seasons, the flowers will change but the harmony will remain the same. There are three fundamental color palettes: monochrome, analogous and contrasting.

Primary topic: Gardening

715 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Beautiful Flowers to Grow in the Shade

The 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 size. What to grow in the shade? Flowers. White, if you would, they stand out in low light.

Primary topic: Gardening

605 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Lemon Verbena

Whether you grow lemon verbena as a medicinal or an aromatic plant, it gets plenty of uses, from flavoring fish and fruit salads, as a replacement or in addition to lemon zest, to pleasant calming brews. For those who love to exercise, it is particularly effective in reducing muscle and joint damage after strenuous physical activity without undoing any of its benefits. Lemon verbena is a powerful antioxidant, but be careful when you use it, because it may make you sleepy.

Primary topic: Gardening

762 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Quince Jelly

All fruits are suitable for preserves, especially if they come in vibrant colors, but some, like apples, quinces, pears, plums and grapes, are naturally high in pectin and will gel beautifully without additives. Jellies must be firm and transparent like colored glass, in brilliant jewel tones, with no cloudiness or leftover bits of fruit. Quince jelly, a delicacy of the northern countries (quince trees don't thrive in warm climates), is the gold standard for this sugary confection.

Primary topic: Gardening

501 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Vegetable Flowers

When 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 like a sea of smiles. I don’t like squash that much, but I wouldn’t miss out on its blossoms. So, who are the beauties of the vegetable garden?

Primary topic: Gardening

471 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Perennial garden challenges

The most important characteristic of perennial flower beds is tough soil. Their residents, once established, don't take kindly to being disturbed, and as much as you try to dig around their roots, the dirt tends to get much harder than it would in an annual border. This is both a good thing, because many plants really thrive with more weight on their roots, and a bad thing, because heavy soil tends to drain poorly and make weeds harder to pull. If you are a plant propagation enthusiast, mulching is not an option because it can be very damaging to young seedlings.

Primary topic: Gardening

655 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

The Memory Herb

Rosemary is the memory herb. This is both a fact and a metaphor: the smell of rosemary improves retention and concentration, and its stems were traditionally offered as tokens of devotion, especially between lovers who were driven apart. I don’t know if it works for memory and concentration, but I became fond of its fragrance, which is both sharp and soothing. For some reason it reminds me of rain, a strange memory association for an herb that thrives in dry soil, on sun baked cliffs.

Primary topic: Gardening

627 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

How to grow vanilla orchids

Have 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.

Primary topic: Gardening

857 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Northern Orchids

I 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 bulbs, require minimal care. Their flowers show up very late, often after the garden is already covered in a thick layer of fallen leaves.

Primary topic: Gardening

490 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Why Spring is My Favorite Season

Spring didn't come early this year, the daffodils and hyacinths are still struggling with the cold weather. This comes somewhat as a relief, last year's spring arrived unseasonably early and was followed by a damaging summer of drought.

Primary topic: Gardening

725 views

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