The City Of Autmn Scenery， Plants Are In Power

By+Wang+Chen

Walking in the city of autumn， if observing carefully， you will find that the autumn is not as cool and rustle as others describe. There are dreamy colours and beautifule scenery in autumn， while this scenery is dependant on the deck of plants. Then lets go on the streets and parks to know about the glorious plants in autumn.

The City Checked In Golden Colour

The City Checked In Golden Colour

Walking in the city streets of autumn， the most common scenery is the golden armor on the trees， which render the whole street exceptionally warm. The golden color seems as the same， but when walking close and take a look， you will find them different. The rows of ginkgo leaves are like small round fans； the leafof Chinese ash is composed of several spiky small leaves， its a compound leaf； the orange leaf with five cracks is the pentagon maple in north China. Looking up， a string of fruits with “wings” are hanging in the Chinese ashs branches， those are called samara； the samara of pentagon maple is more amazing， its two pieces of samara are concrescent， like little silver pieces， so it is also known as the “silver piece maple”. As the Chinese ashes in the streets turned golden in colour， they are reminding： the autumn has come， which indicate that the Chinese ash changes color firstly； thg ginko will put on a suit dress until late autumn， while the leaves of Chinese ash have already fallen. The time for pentagon maple to change color is between those of the two plants.

The Red Leaves Add Radiance And Beatuty To The Sunset glow

Walking in the parke， what the most eye-catching is the patches of red， these small trees or shrubs with red leaves often grow in cluster in hillside， or mix with overgreen trees. If watching carefully， you will find out the real body of the well-known red leaves in Xiangshan——smoke tree， its ovoid blade eage is intact， without sawteeth or cracks. It has another romantic alias——“fireworks tree”， for its pedicels are elongated after flowering， they are like pink feather， and wont litter for a long time， like a tree of fireworks. But the scene can be seen only in summer. In the park or a garden， you can often see an exquisite pavilion covered by a kind of beautiful red leaves， that is chicken claw maple. Its cabinet and delicate leaves are in palm shaped cracks， with a depth of 1/2 or 1/3 of that of the blades diameter， so the tree gets the name. on the slope， the brilliant red plant is likely to be the torch tree， not only its long pinnately compound leaves will turn red in autumn， the clusters standing on the top branch have turned into “torches” early between summer and fall.

The Flowers And Grass In Autumn Of The Flower Border

In addition to the tall tree， many delicate but beautiful flowers and grasses are decorating the city. There are many application forms of herbaceous flowers and ornamental grasses in the city， such as flower beds， flower terraces， planting pots and so on. But in one way， the magical effect made by the combination of different flowers is mostly emphasized， that is the popular “flower border” in European countries and America. In the flower border， people take use of outdoor perennial root flowers， flowering bulbs， biennial flowers and shrubs， combinate them in plaque or banding and plant them in trees， hedges， green spaces， both sides of streets or before the buildings.

Flower border origined from England—the birthplace of the natural scenery botanical garden. People saw the naturlly grown wild flowers at the edge of the forest， began to imitate and applicate it in the urban landscape， this was the original source of the flower border. We can see from the origin that the natural beauty of plants is the mostly emphsized in flower border， the large number of plants are strewn at random discrection and rich in colors， creating a render natural beauty. After the Olympic Games， in many big cities of China， people began to grow flower borders. Especially in the parks， you can often see the flower borders of high-in-low combination. Now lets go close to the flower border and know about the beautiful plants.

High：Hibiscus Moscheutos， Pennisetum

It is 1～2 metres high， with huge red or pink flowers on the stems. Beside the hibiscus moscheutos is the pennisetum， which is a common gramineous ornamental grass， looking like a giant dogs tail grass， with a height of 1.2 meters， its blade is thin and the fluffy inflorescences are particularly lovely， formnig an unique background in the flower border.

In：

Coreopsis， Sage，

Veronica Spicata

Under the hibiscus moscheutos are the golden coreopsis， the 30～90 cm high coreopsis begin to flower from summer until mid-october， the flourishing wheel-shape flowers are very attractive. The golden color is especially suitable to match with the purple flowers such as sages and veronica spicata on its side， for yellow and purple are secondary colors of intensive contrast， creating the impressive memorable contrast effect. Sage and veronica spicata have the similar colors and heights， with the same spica growing up. The slender acuminate inflorescence of veronica spicata is particularly elegant， the purple vertical lines bring a lively atmosphere to the whole flower border.

Low：

Petunias， Big Flower Pansy

At our feet， some lush but low grass flowers prostrate on the ground to grow， the most striking are petunias and big flower pansy， which are suitable to create the large patches of clor lumps of the foreground. The flower of petunias is like the bigger and flater morning glory， but it has a farer relation to the morning glory than it has to the eggplant， for petunias and eggplant are both solanaceae plants， while the morning glory belongs to convolvulaceae. The petals of big flower pansy are bilateral symmetry like the butterflys wings， so the plant is called iris. The center of the patals often present dark spot like a face， therefore its also called face flower.

These plants dont compete with each other for beauty in summer， but chose to add some colors and energies in the quiet autumn. Thanks to their existence， we can enjoy the different beautiful sceneries when walking in the city in autumn. Maybe some careful readers have found that ， the listed plants are all common plants in Beijing， that is because that most plants wither in Beijings autumn， and these autumn plants become very important. Although there are also some distinctive ablaze plants in the south， they are only the ornaments of the icing on the cake， so not involved in this paper.

in： coreopsis， sage， veronica spicata

Under the hibiscus moscheutos are the golden coreopsis， the 30～90 cm high coreopsis begin to flower from summer until mid-october， the flourishing wheel-shape flowers are very attractive. The golden color is especially suitable to match with the purple flowers such as sages and veronica spicata on its side， for yellow and purple are secondary colors of intensive contrast， creating the impressive memorable contrast effect. Sage and veronica spicata have the similar colors and heights， with the same spica growing up. The slender acuminate inflorescence of veronica spicata is particularly elegant， the purple vertical lines bring a lively atmosphere to the whole flower border.