Articles

Articles by Francis Rosenfeld

Browse every published article connected to Francis Rosenfeld, with exact attribution and full-archive search.

articles: 319
shown per page: 50
search signals: Topic + expert

Articles

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

Create a garden for children

There are few things that match the joy of watching children take charge of little projects, and gardening projects are no exception. Set aside a little patch of dirt for your kids to plant seeds and watch things grow. Make sure it is reasonably fertile and in full sun, you don't want to make a starter project so challenging that it generates disillusionment rather than the pride of accomplishment. Stick to annuals. Turn the dirt at a spade's depth early in the spring, to ensure that most of the seeds will germinate.

Primary topic: Gardening

792 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Spring Care for Roses

Both 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 a little about spring rose care.

Primary topic: Gardening

456 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Bath Salts, Creams and Oils

Bath 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 cinnamon, they irritate the skin, and citrus oils, which can induce a phototoxic reaction. Store in a pretty jar and replenish as needed. Creams.

Primary topic: Gardening

852 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Magic Beans

If I knew how much I would enjoy purple beans, I would only have planted those to begin with. Besides being an attractive feature in the garden, they taste better and are not stringy at all, which is a blessing. Of course the purple color turns green in the pot, but that's beside the point.

Primary topic: Gardening

697 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Roasting Marshmallows

My son had to stay home from school. Since the reason was a tummy ache he was required to rest for the day and not engage in his regular activities, all of which involve some kind of computerized device. After a long drawn discussion about being unfairly deprived of the activities he had been accustomed to guess what he rediscovered? It is fun to roast marshmallows in the fireplace and roasted marshmallows taste very yummy. And at the age of nine you can do it all by yourself because you are so grown up and responsible.

Primary topic: Gardening

613 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

What Plants Need to Thrive

If you ever drove by a flower meadow in the middle of summer, you must have realized that plants handle themselves very well without human assistance, as they’ve always done. The gardener is only there to cheer them along. A plant needs three things to thrive: sunlight, water and a proper balance of nutrients. From here on the details of what that means for each species vary wildly.

Primary topic: Gardening

602 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

August lily

I 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.

Primary topic: Gardening

847 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Pumpkin, the big round fruit

Most suburban dwellers don't have the space and the sun exposure required to grow pumpkins, the big round fruit has a sprawling growth habit and an unruly disposition that doesn't endear it to its tamer vegetable companions. If you still want to grow pumpkins, here is how: pumpkins appreciate humus rich soils that hold water well but don't get soggy, a good amount of organic fertilizer, warmth and plenty of sunshine.

Primary topic: Gardening

652 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

A divine tree that fulfills wishes

I 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 dove deep into the ground for nutrients, interweaving their roots to claim territory and support each other from the caprices of wind and water.

Primary topic: Gardening

752 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

How to make zacusca

Not 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 spread. Ingredients:rn- 1 lb of tomatoes - 2 large eggplants - 4 bell peppers, the more colorful the better - 1 medium onion - 2 tablespoons of olive oil - 1 hot pepper - bay leaves, pepperco s, hot pepper flakes, salt and pepper

Primary topic: Gardening

946 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Bulb gardens

Bulbs 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 associate them with spring and miss the wealth of summer and fall flowers they can yield. Here is a list of summer and fall bulbs that shouldn't be missing from any garden:rn- irises that brighten up the flower beds in June with clumps that grow bigger every year.r

Primary topic: Gardening

704 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Grasses

I 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 ubiquitous neatly manicured green carpet - we tend to forget what grass really looks like when left to its own devices. Its largest specimen, the bamboo, can grow over a hundred feet tall.

Primary topic: Gardening

666 views5/5 (1)

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Time for a Little Winter Pampering

One of the best things about winter is that one doesn’t feel guilty about indulging in a little pampering. After all, the weather is god-awful, there isn’t a lot of activity in the garden, and dry winter skin gives one every justification for a well needed home spa session.

Primary topic: Gardening

585 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

June Tangerine or How to Care for Daylilies

The 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.

Primary topic: Gardening

514 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Perennial Borders

One 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 next. Just because a plant is labeled perennial it doesn’t mean it will be there forever. Some, like delphiniums and columbines, will only live four or five years, even in ideal conditions, while others, like hostas, garden phlox, hellebores and cone flowers will be with you for decades.

Primary topic: Gardening

598 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Anise hyssop

I 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 is one of the primary ingredients for chartreuse. The scent of licorice complemented the afte oon sunlight, enticing butterflies and bees and adding spicy accents to the end of summer palette.

Primary topic: Gardening

767 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Weather Musings

I 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 weeks in advance and have a fair idea what the weather is going to be like.

Primary topic: Gardening

449 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Preparing Vegetable Beds

Most vegetables are annual, which makes the gardener’s work to prepare their beds significantly easier. There are no roots to disturb, no bulbs to accidentally dig up.

Primary topic: Gardening

551 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Open Fields

The 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 free blooms fit into the second tier of the sunny border since they are usually three to four foot in height, tall enough to raise their heads above the wild grasses or catch the precious sunshine dappled through rare tree foliage.

Primary topic: Gardening

530 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

What's an Eggplant Worth?

I’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, sometimes in the middle of February I get these packets of seeds. There is nothing going on outside, nothing but bleak cold dreary, and me, indoors, with a little packet of seeds in my hand.

Primary topic: Gardening

546 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

The Secret Lives of Plants

If 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.

Primary topic: Gardening

514 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Crop Rotation

Crop rotation requires a lot more space than is usually available in a backyard, but I can discuss it in concept. It is a natural gardening method that allows the soil to maintain its balance, so it doesn’t get depleted over time due to the repeated cultivation of a crop that makes heavy use of a specific nutrient. Growing crops this way also maintains the general hygiene of the growing medium by controlling weeds, keeping the soil light and airy and discouraging pests and diseases.

Primary topic: Gardening

671 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Bee Trivia

There 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 the summer and during all this time of collecting nectar it only manages to gather a twelfth of a teaspoon's worth of honey? I feel guilty now, just thinking of all the times honey dripped off the bread.

Primary topic: Gardening

522 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Propagating Plants from Cuttings

Stem, root or leaf cuttings are the nursery standard for the propagation of perennials, especially those whose clumps grow woody with time. The benefit of this method is that the young plants are true clones of their parents.

Primary topic: Gardening

600 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Medicinal Herbs

The first time I saw an herb garden in a public park I asked myself what was the point of it? The fact that it occupied a small nook in the middle of the rose garden, at a time when all the roses were in bloom, didn’t help its cause very much. I know better now. Of course, I selected the herbs for my own garden according to their flowering habits, unfair as it may seem; nobody grows herbs for their blooming prowess. The one good thing about herbs is that they pretty much take care of themselves. They weather drought, heat, freezes, they’re the ultimate “set it and forget it plant”.

Primary topic: Gardening

572 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

November Rose

I was walking through the garden trying to assess what is left to do before winter descends upon us for good and I ran into a lovely surprise. My miniature rose decided to brave two killing frosts and a freezing rain and bloom in the middle of November. Contrary to popular belief roses are very resilient plants. The only thing they really can't live without is sunshine, everything else they'll take in stride.

Primary topic: Gardening

560 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Geotropism

Geotropism 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 the underside of the roots and stems in response to the gravity pull.

Primary topic: Gardening

502 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Herbs for Clay Soils

I 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, throughout a whole decade of gardening I haven’t managed to keep thyme alive long enough to witness the end of summer. Chamomile lasts even less. I’ll make a list of plants that thrive in clay with very little effort, sometimes to the point of becoming invasive.r

Primary topic: Gardening

640 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

The Happy Go Lucky

Some plants find their way into your heart just because they look so cheerful and innocent. Who doesn't love daisies? They are the embodiment of simple and wholesome, like milk, child giggles or sunshine. The fact that they are easy going and thrive with a minimum of care doesn't hurt either.

Primary topic: Gardening

479 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Container Garden Companions

Finding 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 the planter by the end of the summer. If you don’t want to end up with a monoculture, here are a few compatible flower combinations.

Primary topic: Gardening

540 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Solomon's Seal

I am absolutely fascinated by this plant. I don't know what it is about it, its name, its relative scarcity, the unusual way the blossoms are aligned along the stems, unlike any flower I've ever seen. I waited a long time to get it, hesitating over mail-in orders and proper planting times, not knowing how it behaves in larger plantings, daydreaming about what it would look like in my garden.

Primary topic: Gardening

676 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Rose Care for the Winter

Whether rose pruning is best done in the fall or spring is a matter of preference. I usually leave it for spring, for some reaso I feel the plants will fare better over the winter if they keep the growth from the previous year. If you do choose to prune before winter, do so, keeping in mind that you’ll have to go back to them in spring and clean out any canes that had suffered winter damage.

Primary topic: Gardening

649 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Magic Beans

I plant scarlet runner beans for their flowers - all the beauty of sweet peas with none of the high maintenance. Of course they are not fragrant, but nothing in this life is perfect. If you plant them as a crop, and during favorable years they do produce, don’t pick them green, you are not doing yourself or the beans any favors. There are three types of beans, based on their use: snap, shell and dry.

Primary topic: Gardening

608 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Tinctures

Tinctures preserve the active compounds of plants indefinitely, or at least long enough for one to feel that way. A good tincture should last for twenty years if stored in a cool dry place away from the sunlight. Tincture bottles are amber or dark blue on purpose, to keep out ultraviolet light and preserve the quality of the product.

Primary topic: Gardening

555 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Maltese Cross

There is something about this flower that fascinates me, I don't know why. I don't seem to be able to grow the classic four petaled variety that inspired the plant's name either, just the five petal one.

Primary topic: Gardening

544 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Tuberose fragrance

Tuberose oil is a staple scent for perfumery, obtained through chemical extraction by means of concretes and absolutes, and it is one of the most expensive natural fragrances available to perfumers. Because of the flower's patrician demeanor and its expensive essence I always thought the tuberoses were difficult plants that require extreme amounts of care and pampering, but no, they are sturdy and gritty and like most summer bulbs they need virtually no care.

Primary topic: Gardening

749 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Planting fruit trees

I gingerly stepped out the door and a blast of cold air threw me back in. It's February. So much for my gardening enthusiasm, I guess I can stick to potpourri and fragrant sachets for now but since late winter is a good time for tree planting, let's talk about fruit trees.

Primary topic: Gardening

1,030 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Container Garden Companions

Finding 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 the planter by the end of the summer. If you don’t want to end up with a monoculture, here are a few compatible flower combinations.

Primary topic: Gardening

466 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Herb Gardens

As 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 onions and garlic and drying racks of chamomile and lovage intermixing their fragrances in an indescribable but immediately recognizable scent.

Primary topic: Gardening

879 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Tulips? Yes, please!

I 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? Fact is I don’t normally see tulips in spring. There are two exceptions to this rule: a beautiful West Point variety, bright yellow, with splendid lily flowering tulips on long, slender stems, and now this.

Primary topic: Gardening

410 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Why leaves tu

For the less romantically inclined among us, who don't get misty eyed over nature's autumnal carnival of color but would like to know why the leaves turn, here is the full prose version of it.

Primary topic: Gardening

602 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Sunshine and Heliotrope

I’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 people describe its fragrance as a combination of cherry pie, hence the name, and vanilla, others say it smells more like grape soda; in my opinion it’s closer to licorice.

Primary topic: Gardening

512 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Potted Basil

I always have a few pots of herbs on the balcony, which get to bask in the sunshine all summer long. Contrary to my expectations, herbs are not the kind of care free plants that will forgive you if you forget to water them, not even the drought friendly rosemary.

Primary topic: Gardening

642 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Spring Cleaning

The 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 hours before the weather turned on me again. The plants had grown significantly unde eath the blanket of winter debris but I'm afraid that I will have to stick with the seasoned perennials this year, at least that's how things look right now.

Primary topic: Gardening

425 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Cyclamen, year three

On a list of gardening mistakes that expands as I advance in experience and wisdom I have to place my lack of knowledge about the behavior of the cyclamen plants. After I threw away perfectly good tubers more times tha I care to recount I found out that cyclamens only grow leaves in the fall, bloom in winter and then go dormant. The only reason this beautiful flower made it is because my daughter gave it to me as a gift and I went to great lengths to keep it "alive" which basically means I forced it out of its hibe ation during the spring and summer.

Primary topic: Gardening

684 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Bulbs for Summer and Fall

Toad 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 potential in the garden during summer and fall. I really miss the Casablanca lilies, I don’t even know if they reached the end of their natural life cycle or succumbed to the unforgiving winter, but they all vanished one year, for no apparent reason.

Primary topic: Gardening

639 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

What Plants Need to Thrive

If you ever drove by a flower meadow in the middle of summer, you must have realized that plants handle themselves very well without human assistance, as they’ve always done. The gardener is only there to cheer them along. A plant needs three things to thrive: sunlight, water and a proper balance of nutrients. From here on the details of what that means exactly for each species vary wildly.

Primary topic: Gardening

526 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Grasses

I 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 ubiquitous neatly manicured green carpet - we tend to forget what grass really looks like when left to its own devices. Its largest specimen, the bamboo, can grow over a hundred feet tall.

Primary topic: Gardening

523 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Decadent Indulgence

Now and then I get a renewed enthusiasm for making my own beauty products and the kitchen turns into a magical apothecary where decadently sweet smelling lotions and potions steam and brew. Sometimes I think making the creams, oils and perfumes is more enjoyable than using them. Not! For a few hours I become the wizard of sparkle and glamor, stirring pots of melted cocoa, shea butter or coconut oil, assessing the concentration of herbal decoctions and taking in the wholesome scent of liquid beeswax. Home-made products smell heavenly even before you add fragrance.

Primary topic: Gardening

777 views

By Francis RosenfeldRecently published1 topic

Good Bones

Successful 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 structure. What nature doesn’t offer, garden design can. This is a time for its hard features to shine - beautiful flagstone pathways, statuary, stone benches, decorative planters, even an empty arbor gain prominence and impart sober elegance on an otherwise barren landscape.

Primary topic: Gardening

520 views

Back to top ↑