VOA慢速英语听力：全年在室内种植插花花园 Grow Cutting Garden for Flowers Indoors All Season Long.
Almost every flower can be cut and enjoyed indoors. But growing a cutting garden of flowers takes some planning.
Jessica Damiano writes about gardening for The Associated Press. Damiano says that she cuts lilacs to bring indoors for their scent in the spring. And hydrangeas and roses make it indoors on her dining room table for the summer.
The first step, Damiano says, is to think about flowers as a crop to be harvested. Just as some tomatoes are better for use in sauces, some flowers are better for cutting and showing than others.
Flowers that do not grow tall nor bloom are not the best to show indoors. Damiano says to look for this information in seed catalogs. The descriptions often include whether specific kinds of flowers, from perennials, annuals or tender perennials, work well for cutting and showing.
Perennials are plants that flower for more than one year. Some flower for just two or three weeks, while others flower repeatedly. And they usually flower in their second year, but sometimes third.
Annuals are plants that live for just one year. But they usually produce more flowers during the growing season.
Tender perennials are perennials in the sense that they live for more than one year. But, they are usually grown as annuals because some do not dependably return and some cannot survive winters.
To ensure a continual supply of flowers for cutting, Damiano says to plant seeds or young plants every two weeks.
Annuals that are good for cutting include cosmos, globe amaranth, larkspur, and Queen Anne’s lace. Perennials to grow and cut include bee balm, coneflower, fox glove, lily, and rose. Tender perennials that work well for cutting include California poppy, snapdragon, and strawflower.
Both annuals and perennials can be grown in the ground, in raised beds, or even in containers. If you have enough room, growing them in separate beds will simplify yearly planting. But it is not necessary. If you are short on space, plant where you can.
Most flowers need fertile, well-draining soil, repeated watering, and at least six to eight hours of direct sunlight each day. You can use plants bought from a garden center, start your own from seed indoors, or plant seeds directly into the garden.
Add a large amount of compost into planting holes to provide nutrients to the plants. If you’re planning ahead, top the soil with five to eight centimeters of compost in the fall, and the bed will be highly fertile by spring.
Beds should not be much wider than a meter. This will help to keep your harvests within easy reach from all sides. When planting, place the tallest flowers at the backside of the bed, middle-sized plants in the center, and smaller plants in the front so that all are easy to get to.
Be sure to follow directions for plants on how much space they need to understand their full-grown size. Plants that do not have enough space often become diseased plants.
After planting, add a balanced, slow-release fertilizer and five to eight centimeters of mulch, then water well. If you are planting seeds directly into the garden, fertilize and mulch when the growing plants are 10 centimeters tall.
Beginning three weeks after planting, add a liquid flower fertilizer that is low in nitrogen and high in phosphorus. And repeat every two weeks.
I’m Gregory Stachel.
Words in This Story
garden – n. an area of ground where plants (such as flowers or vegetables) are grown
scent – n. a pleasant smell that is produced by something
bloom – v. to produce flowers
catalog – n. a book containing a list of things that you can buy or use, and often pictures
drain – v. to remove (liquid) from something by letting it flow away or out
compost – n. a decayed mixture of plants (such as leaves and grass) that is used to improve the soil in a garden
mulch – n. a material (such as straw, leaves, or small pieces of wood) that is spread over the ground in a garden to protect the plants or help them grow and to stop weeds from growing
参考译文：
几乎每种花都可以被剪下来在室内欣赏。但要种植一片剪花园需要一些计划。
杰西卡·达米亚诺为美联社撰写园艺相关文章。达米亚诺说，她会剪下丁香花在春天带到室内享受芳香。而绣球花和玫瑰则会在夏天摆在她的餐桌上。
达米亚诺表示，第一步是把花看作是一种可以收获的农作物。就像有些番茄更适合做酱料一样，有些花更适合剪下来展示。
那些不长高、也不开花的花在室内展示效果并不好。达米亚诺建议在种子目录中查找相关信息。种子目录通常会说明哪些种类的花，无论是多年生植物、一年生植物还是嫩性多年生植物，适合剪下来展示。
多年生植物是指开花超过一年的植物。有些植物只开花两三周，而有些则会不断开花。它们通常在第二年开花，但有时也会在第三年。
一年生植物是指只能生活一年的植物。但它们通常在生长季节会开出更多的花朵。
嫩性多年生植物在某种程度上算是多年生植物，因为它们能生活多于一年。但是，它们通常被视为一年生植物，因为其中一些不一定会再次生长，有些则无法经受住冬季的考验。
为了确保持续供应剪花所需，达米亚诺建议每两周种植一次种子或幼苗。
适合剪花的一年生植物包括玉簪花、苋菜、火炬花和绢花。适合种植并剪花的多年生植物包括蜜蜂蜡瓣花、锥花、毛地黄、百合和玫瑰。适合剪花的嫩性多年生植物包括加州罂粟花、金鱼草和稻草花。
这两类植物都可以种植在地面、高架床，甚至容器中。如果有足够的空间，将它们种植在独立的床中会简化每年的种植。但这并非必须。如果空间有限，尽量在合适的地方种植。
大多数花卉需要肥沃、排水良好的土壤，经常浇水，并且每天至少需要六到八小时的直接阳光照射。你可以购买花园中心的植物，从种子在室内开始培育，或者直接将种子播种在花园里。
在种植孔中添加大量的堆肥，为植物提供养分。如果你提前计划，秋季可以在土壤表面覆盖五到八厘米的堆肥，到了春季，土壤将会非常肥沃。
花床的宽度不应该超过一米。这样做有助于让你的收获在所有方向都容易到达。在种植时，将最高的花朵放在花床的后侧，中等大小的植物放在中间，较小的植物放在前面，以便都能轻松到达。
确保按照植物的要求，了解它们的成熟尺寸需要多少空间。没有足够空间的植物往往会变得病态。
种植后，添加平衡的缓释肥料和五到八厘米厚的覆盖物，然后充分浇水。如果你直接在花园里种植种子，当植物生长到10厘米高时施肥和覆盖覆盖物。
在种植后的三周内，添加一种氮含量低、磷含量高的液体花卉肥料。每两周重复一次。
我是格雷戈里·斯塔切尔。
