Celebrated gardener and writer Vita Sackville-West wrote a weekly column called In Your Garden

Scented blooms are worth waiting for.

著名园艺家和作家维塔.萨卡维勒谈关于腊梅在冬季飘香

——浓郁的花香值得等待

我将就冬天户外开花植物的话题进行讨论，作为对询问者的回答。对于腊梅，英语叫做冬季甜香，应该给予尊敬。尽管它是早在1766年从中国引进的，却除了在年代较久的花园外，已不太常见。说实话，我应该告诫年轻的买主，它们在种植了五六年之后才会开花，不过这是值得等待的。

In response to many requests, I pursue the subject of plants that will flower out of doors during the winter months. Chimonanthus fragrans, in English the Winter-sweet, should have a place of honour. Although it was introduced from China as long ago as 1766, it is not often seen now except in the older gardens, and in honesty I should warn purchasers of young plants that it will not begin to flower until it is five or six years old. But it is worth waiting for.

甚至在寒冷的室外空气中，它们也是极其香醇的，在长长的小枝上，满载着奇异的紫酱色和黄色花朵，在1月和2月可供随意采摘，在冬天这种花持续开放两到三周，尤其是如果你用一把锤子将它的梗敲碎的话，这个提示对所有硬木植物都适用。冬天甜香将最后达到10英尺或更高，它最喜欢靠着墙生长作为保护，但是我只是在肯特郡看见过一棵长成大灌木的冬天甜心，而不是在我的花园里，嗨！

Extremely sweet-scented, even in the cold open air, long sprigs loaded with the strange maroon-and-yellow flowers can be cut all through January and February; it lasts for two or three weeks in water, especially if you smash the stems with a hammer, a hint which applies to all hard-wooded growth. The Winter-sweet will eventually reach to a height of ten feet or more; it is happiest grown against a wall for protection, but I have seen it growing into a big bush in the open in a garden in Kent – not my garden, alas!

教科书建议我们，当它一开完花，就立即将它修剪至只剩老枝。我遵从这些建议已经多年，但结果除了为截短的树枝感到难过之外什么也没得到；然后我反抗了，正如所有优秀园艺家在他们发现自己的经验与教科书对立时，都应该反抗。我让冬天甜香一年也不修剪，于是得以丰厚的回报，在户外有更长的花枝供采摘，我相信这种过度采摘可以代替所需要的修剪。

The text-books instruct us to prune it hard back ot the old wood immediately after it has finished flowering; I obediently followed these instructions for years, and got nothing but some truncated little miseries in consequence; then I rebelled, as all good gardeners should rebel when they find their own experience going against the text-book, and left my Winter-sweet unpruned one year, with the rich reward of longer sprays to cut for indoors. I fancy that this extravagant cutting will provide all the pruning that is necessary.

如果你是那种喜欢自己照料植株的园艺家，就不妨留几根花枝，让它们长出葫芦状的果实，成熟后将籽撒在瓦罐或盆子里。它将非常乐于发芽。

If you are the sort of gardener that likes raising your own nursery stock, leave a couple of sprays to develop their gourd-shaped fruit, and sow the seed when ripe in a pot or pan. It germinates very obligingly.

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我感到犹豫，在介绍了冬天开花的茉莉花这样一种著名植物后，是否伤害了观察家的读者，它是在1844年从中国引进的。现在我们都知道了。我在12月4日摘去了它的长花枝，所有户内的花蕾都在冬天开放了，持续了几个星期。花和花蕾在户外不太抗霜；所以这里有个提示：将一株茉莉花栽在一只大花盆里；让花盆在户外度过整个夏季和秋季；在11月将花盆拿回屋内；让新芽围着几根竹棍；将花盆放在你屋里的一个角落的地板上；不要忘了给它浇水，将一只盆子或碗放在花盆地下，不然你的地毯将受损；做了所有这些事情，你可以很有信心地等待着一个黄金源泉两到三个月，而不受户外天气的影响。

I hesitate to insult readers of The Observer by recommending the merits of so well known a plant as the winter-flowering jasmine, Jasminum nudiflorum, introduced from China in 1844. We all grow it now. I picked long sprays of it on December 4th and all the buds opened indoors in water, lasting for several weeks. The flowers and buds are not very frost-resistant out of doors; so here is a hint: grow a plant of it in a large pot; leave the pot standing out of doors all summer and autumn; bring the pot indoors in November; train the shoots round some bamboo canes; stand the pot on the floor in a corner of your room; don't forget to water it; put a large plate or bowl under the pot or your carpet will suffer; and having done all this you may confidently expect a golden fountain for two or three months unaffected by the weather outside.

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在天气温和的季节，阿尔及利亚鸢尾，通常称为蝴蝶花，但更准确地说是冬花鸢尾，应该在11月开始开花，一直持续到3月份。它们的颜色不同，从淡蓝色到深紫色，还有白色的品种，有六到八英寸高。花丛应该栽在南墙脚底下，有充分的阳光，用可以想象的最多砂的土壤；它们喜欢旧瓦砾，砂砾，草灰，碎砖头；它们只要少量养分就能长得茂盛；不喜欢被移动或打扰；因此蛞蝓和蜗牛很喜欢它们，所以记得放上一些麦麸子，当它们仍然紧紧卷在植株上，像一面不破的旗子一样挂在旗杆上时，就将它们摘去。然后它们将不再在你温暖的房间里伸展开来；你可以看着它们这样做。

In a mild season the Algerian Iris, generally called Iris stylosa, but, more correctly, iris unguicularis, should start flowering in November and continue until March. They vary in colour from a lavender blue to a deep purple (there is also a white form) and are from six to eight inches high. The clumps should be planted at the foot of a south wall, full sun, in the most gritty soil imaginable; they love old mortar rubble, gravel, ashes, broken bricks; they flourish on a starvation diet; hate being transplanted or otherwise disturbed; are loved by slugs and snails, so be sure to put down some meta-and-bran, and pick them while still as closely furled as an unbroken flag around its flag-staff. They will then unfurl in the warmth of your room; you can watch them doing it.

发自简.坡龙，2009年1月30日

Posted by Jane Perrone from the Vita Sackville-West archive Friday 30 January 2009