End of the rainbow

Early autumn is the time when late-summer flowers come into their own. Dan Pearson heralds the arrival of the season's last wave of colour

• Dan Pearson
• The Observer,
• Sunday September 21 2008

This year autumn felt like it had started to take hold way back in the middle of August, and I really fought against it. I wasn't at all ready to let go of the growing season and spent a furious weekend cutting back, tidying and restaking in an attempt to shore up and postpone the impending decay. The Vitis that was strangling the 'Mermaid' rose was pulled away to let the sun back in for a while and I did a ruthless cutback on the herbaceous geraniums to try and promote fresh green growth. I am glad I acted when I did, for the garden wasn't really ready to let go of the summer either and there was plenty more waiting in the wings.

彩虹之末

初秋正是夏末的花儿苏醒的时候。丹.皮尔孙预告本季节最后的艳丽色彩的到来。

——英国观察家丹.皮尔孙

2008年9月21日星期日

今年秋天使人感觉天气似乎回到了八月中旬，我同它进行了一场真正的搏斗。我根本没有准备好告别这个适于植物成长的季节，花了一个周末勤奋工作，修建枝条，整理庭院，给植株重新安桩，企图抵抗和推迟植物即将来临的衰败。我将那些束缚“美人鱼”玫瑰的藤蔓清理了，让阳光可以多射进来一会儿，我在草本的天竺葵那里作了无情的砍伐，试图促进新绿的生长。当我这样做的时候，我很高兴，因为花园也尚未真正准备好送别夏天，在房屋两侧还有着许多的期待。

 

Nearly six weeks later and I am happy to let go of the reins. This is because the energy has changed, and where there was still growth in the air there is now a mood of resignation. It really is time to give in and prepare for dormancy. That said, this is often one of the most beautiful months of the year, with soft, low light and warmth in the sun when you can catch it. The garden also has plenty to offer, for it is in the midst of its grand finale - and I am not talking autumn foliage and berries here, but a whole new wave of flowers that have been preparing the summer long for just this moment. In that preparation, they have been looking good, where earlier bloomers have given in and are looking very much post-party.

大约六个星期之后，我很乐意让一切放任自流。这是因为能量已经发生了变化，在那些还有生长期待的地方，现在也只好听天由命了。这的确是放弃的时候，去准备休眠。也就是说，这常常是一年中最美好的月份之一，当你能晒到太阳的时候，享受着柔和的，光线不足的，温暖的阳光。花园也有许多东西能向你提供，因为它正处于伟大的最后一幕——我不是在谈论在这里采摘秋天的叶子和浆果，而是在谈论一整片新开放的花的浪涛，它们为眼前此刻而准备了整个夏天。在那准备过程中，它们一直看上去很漂亮，而更早开的花被放弃了，看上去就像盛宴将近尾声。

I must remember when ordering my bulbs next year that I dug out my colchicums and gave them to my parents a couple of years ago. It was time for a change when I did it, and they have loved being divided, but I have missed them pushing through this year to mark the end of the summer. Although they are tolerant of a dappled light, they are at their best when basking in autumn sun. Tough sheaths push through the earth and do the backwork needed for the emergence, but the buds which then emerge in clusters are silken and delicate. I love them all, even the double 'Waterlily' - but my favourite is Colchicum autumnale 'Album', and I team it up with Aster diviricatus, the wiry prostrate growth of the aster covering nicely during the summer when the colchicum foliage becomes dormant.

我一定记得，几年前在订购第二年的水仙花球茎时，我挖出了我的秋水仙，将它们给了我的父母。当我这样做的时候，正是作一个改变的时候，它们也喜欢被分开，不过我今年没有将这事完成，作为夏季结束的标记。尽管它们能容忍有限的光线，当回到秋天的阳光中时，它们又处于最好的状态。坚韧的叶鞘拱出了土壤，需要对突出体作辅助工作，但是随后出现在叶丛中的花蕾光润而娇嫩。我喜欢所有的水仙，甚至包括重瓣的“莲花”——但是我最喜欢的是秋水仙“阿尔本”，我将它们与雏菊分开排成队列，整个夏天雏菊坚韧地匍匐成长着，对水仙作了很好的掩盖，而水仙的叶丛则处于睡眠状态。

I will also remember to get C 'Rose Queen', as it is one of the nicest for naturalising, and I plan to have it coming up with Cyclamen hederifolium under a grove of open magnolias. Both are happy to live under a summer meadow. The thatch is cut at the beginning of August to make way for the flowers and foliage that follow, and I like the way they enliven an area that can all too often look naked once the meadow is stripped.

我还不会忘记去订购“玫瑰女皇”，这是供移栽的最好的一种花，我计划将它与仙客来一起种在开阔的木兰花树丛底下。这两种花都很高兴生长在一片夏日的草地上，茅草在八月初就被割掉了，为以后的花草让路，一旦草地被剥去了外衣，所有一切看上去更经常地裸露在外，它们在一片区域内更富有生机，我喜欢看到这个样子。

The hardy Amaryllis belladonna are completely dependent upon sunshine and I have them growing in one of the hottest spots in the garden. Though I planted their fist-sized bulbs well below ground 10 years ago, they have lifted themselves above ground now and I would fear for them out in the open in a frost-prone garden. They are worth that prime position at the base of a warm wall and I like to team them up with low-growing Ceratostigma plumbaginoides. This late-flowering groundcover is swathed for weeks with plumbago-like flowers that range from a deep denim to bright cobalt blue. The foliage colours well, too, with odd leaves turning cherry red and turning up the volume.

耐寒的孤挺花完全随阳光而定，我将它们种在庭院中最热的地方。尽管我在10年前将它们拳头大小的球茎埋在地底下，现在它们却破土而出，我将为它们担心，因为它们裸露着生长在一个易于降霜的花园。它们值得拥有那个最初的位置，在暖墙的地基上，我喜欢将它们与低矮的紫金标排列在一起。这种晚开花的覆盖地面的植物几个星期内与石墨一样的花缠在一起，其颜色介于深色工装裤和钴蓝之间。叶丛的颜色也很好看，奇特的叶子变成果酱红，叶片也变得多起来。

There is warmth in many of the late-summer flowers. The Ipomaea lobata are at their best now, winging their way out of control in the back of the borders. In a hot summer, they self-seed like nasturtiums, but most years it is best to gather the seed and sow a few potfuls inside in March. The same can be said for the Cleome spinosa 'Violet Queen' which will keep me going now with the sedum and the asters. I only have room for one sedum here and have grown to love 'Purple Emperor'. It has ruby-red flowers in late summer, but the colour of the foliage is the thing. It is as potent as red cabbage from the moment it breaks earth to the time it is finally defeated by slugs or frost some time in November.

许多夏末开放的花儿也虎虎有生。树牵牛正处于它们的最盛期，在庭院边缘后面不受约束地伸展开来。在炎热的夏季，它们自己的种子像旱金莲，不过大多数年份最好在三月收集种子，栽满几个花盆。同样的情况可以说对醉蝶花“紫皇后”也是适用的，它让我现在与景天和雏菊呆在一起。我这儿只有种一棵景天的地方，我越来越爱上了“紫皇帝”。它在夏末开出宝石红的花朵，不过叶丛的颜色是关键。从出土那时起，直到在十一月某个时候最后被蛞蝓或霜冻摧毁，它就像红色椰菜一样富有势力。

 

Late Red-Hot Pokers are another spectacular sight at the end of the season, and their colouring couldn't be better with berries and the first of the autumn foliage. I took copious notes on the trials field at Wisley last year, where their sceptres were a draw from the other side of the field. As a result I have 'Tawny King' on trial in a friend's garden, and it has been blooming on and off now since July. The secret with all the kniphofias is to cut the spent flowering stems back to the base once they are over, as they don't offer much in the way of winter skeletons.

I have flirted with the Black-eyed Susans in this garden over the years, but I really don't have the room to do them justice. I make up for it vicariously elsewhere, and where there is room for some loftiness and a client that doesn't mind a bit of staking, I plant 'Herbstsonne' (aka 'Autumn Sun') to rise up in front of a west- or south-facing window. It fills the window with artificial sunlight for a good six weeks and more than makes up for the early grip the mellow season has had on this year.

而又红又辣的美洲商陆花在夏末将是另一种特别的景观，它们的色彩与浆果和秋天的第一丛红叶相比，只会更加好看。去年我在威士兰的试验基地作了大量的笔记，在那里它们的魔杖是从田野另一头的一拽。结果我在一个朋友院子里的试验田里得到了“茶色国王”，该花自七月份起直到现在开了又谢。所有这种花的秘密在于开过花后，将花茎齐根切去，以至于它们冬天的骨干不需再供养分。

我在这个花园与黑眼的苏珊小百合调情多年，但是我确实没有足够的空间公正地对待它们。我只能在其他地方对它们作一些补偿，在那里为它们的傲慢留了一些空间，这种花不在乎给它打几根桩，我在一扇朝西或朝南的窗户前种植秋向日葵，它长高后在六个多星期内用人工阳光倾注在窗户上，这远胜于早早控制这一年成熟季节的收成所带来的补偿。

dan.pearson@observer.co.uk

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