Peeping beauties
By Diane Summers
Published: October 7 2006 03:00 | Last updated: October 7 2006 03:00
If your garden is developing an end-of-season feel and you are not sure where to start with the clearing up, you could abandon it altogether for a weekend and plan a trip out with your camera.
Parts of the US and Japan are already showing rich autumn leaf colour and, because of the weather this summer, experts from Britain's Forestry Commission are forecasting a particularly spectacular show.
ADVERTISEMENT
"Leaf peeping" is the US term, coined in the early 1980s, which is now appearing elsewhere. It may sound like some nosy perversion but it is the relativelyharmless pastime of autumn foliage tourism and the hunt for the magical "peak" when colours are at their best.
Peeping is big business in the US, particularly in the north-east, and there are now countless websites, message boards and webcams to help you plan an expedition. There are also the less positive aspects of tourism - the traffic jams and merchandising. Log on to the Vermont Only website, for example, and you will find advertised "James Mee's collection of Vermont-inspired songs" to play "as you tour the Green Mountain State".
In Japan, autumn leaf colour is revered, as is cherry blossom, both symbolising the transitory nature of life. Going to see the leaves is called momiji-gari - which translates as to visit a place of changing colour - and reports from around the country feature daily on television, especially at this time of year.
The tradition is an ancient one, originating with the aristocracy who would play instruments and compose poems in the autumn countryside. Today it is a popular activity and the excuse for an expedition with family, friends or colleagues, and perhaps a picnic.
Famous momiji-gari spots include: Lake Towada and Nikko in northern Honshu; Hakone, near Mount Fuji; and Arashiyama, outside Kyoto, where there is an autumn leaf festival in November.
Judging the best time and location for foliage tourism, in either the US or Japan, is not an exact science and, ideally, it is best to leave enough time to adjust the itinerary on arrival, being prepared to travel further north, for example, if the colour is a bit slower that year.
In the UK it will be a little time yet before the best autumn leaf displays but apparently this year promises to be worth the wait. Perhaps the British will develop their own autumn traditions, beyond schoolboy conker fights and fireworks on November 5, if climatic changes result in more intense colour. Any suggestions for an alternative to the term "leaf peeping"?
The Forestry Commission has set up a website (
www.forestry.gov.uk/autumn) that has an excellent map showing where colour will develop throughout Britain. Earlier this week there were a few locations on the map going yellow - the key goes from "still green" to "turned golden".
Horse chestnuts, particularly in the Greater London area, are doing a sad imitation of autumn colour at the moment, but that is most commonly as a result of infestation by a tiny moth that has been increasing in numbers in the UK in the last few years. Larvae of the moth eat their way inside the leaves and pupate there, causing much damage and early leaf fall. The chestnuts have also been suffering from drought and a serious and increasing disease, bleeding canker.
One of the best places in the UK to see a full range of tree colours is the National Arboretum at Westonbirt in Gloucestershire. Those unable to travel to the US or Japan can get an idea of the effect at the arboretum: the collection includes trees that contribute to the famed New England glow - scarlet oak, and sugar, red and silver maples - and there is also an extensive collection of Japanese acers.
If you have ever wondered why and how leaves change colour, and can only dimly recollect from school how it all works, here is the potted explanation. During spring and summer, leaves act as the tree's food factory, using light energy to turn water and carbon dioxide into sugar, the food for the tree's growth. The green pigment, chlorophyll, contained in the leaf cells, is essential to this process.
As John Weir, director of arboreta at the Forestry Commission, explains: "Once the tree shuts down as it prepares for winter, the chlorophyll is withdrawn and other chemicals take over - carotenoids, which give carrots their colour, anthocyanins and tannins which make the leaves appear yellow, red and gold." For most of this process, it is more a question of innate colours being unmasked, rather than the leaf gaining new colours.
As to why autumn 2006 might be particularly intense for leaf colour, apparently it is down to the long, hot spell during the summer. Many of the chemicals revealed in autumn help protect the leaves from receiving too much energy from sunlight, says Weir. Temperature extremes and bright sunlight have produced conditions close to those experienced by the trees in their native habitat.
Finally, for those who would like to stay in their own gardens to admire the colour, the experts have some recommendations. Simon Toomer, curator at Westonbirt and author of Trees for Small Gardens (Timber Press, 2005) suggests: Acer palmatum, particularly cultivars such as "Seiryu" or "Ozakazuki"; Acer griseum; and largish shrub Cotinus, including "Grace" and "Flame". For larger gardens: the Persian ironwood, Parrotia persica and, for something different, Cercidiphyllum japonicum, sometimes called the candyfloss tree because of the strong smell of caramel released from the leaves as they change colour.
Chair of the Society of Garden Designers, Andrew Fisher Tomlin, also goes for Parrotia persica: "I have three and they are gorgeous, he says. He reminds us of the beauty of beech hedges, and tips Amelanchier lamarckii, and the wonderfully named Liquidambar styraciflua.
Meanwhile, at the end of National Conifer Week (see Cuttings File, left), the supervisor of Bedgebury National Pinetum, Julian Dormady, extols the virtues of conifers for garden colour. Changing leaf colour tends to be associated solely with broad-leaved trees, but there are conifers, too, that shed their needles, turning various shades of gold and red. For the larger garden in wet areas, the swamp cypress, Taxodium distichum, turns a rusty red, and the golden larch, Pseudolarix amabilis, turns gold. Recommendations for smaller gardens include Juniperus virginiana "Grey owl", a low-spreading grey-blue tree which turns purple in winter.
Robin Lane Fox returns next week
欧美的“窥叶”风尚
作者：英国《金融时报》撰稿人 黛安娜?萨默斯(Diane Summers)
2006年11月3日 星期五
什
么是“窥叶”？
如果你的花园正在散发一种秋风萧瑟的感觉，而你又不确定从哪里开始打理，那就干脆整整一个周末完全不去理会它吧。带上你的相机，筹划一次赏秋采风的旅行。
美国和日本的一些地方已显现出浓重的秋叶色彩，而由于今夏天气的原因，英国林业委员会(Forestry Commission)的专家预期，今年英国的秋叶景致将尤为壮观。
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“窥叶”(Leaf peeping)是一个美国词汇，诞生于上世纪80年代初，如今已流行于全球。听上去，这像是某种变态的偷窥，其实，这是一种绝对无害的秋叶观赏消遣，是在秋叶正红之际，对那种迷人“盛景”的追寻。
美国和日本的“窥叶”风尚
在美国，窥叶是一项庞大的业务，尤其是在东北部地区，现在有不计其数的网站、留言板和摄影网站能够帮助你制定一项出游计划。这种旅游也有一些不太好的地方――交通堵塞和商品促销。例如，登录Vermont Only网站，你会发现一个广告：詹姆斯?米(James Mee)的佛蒙特灵感歌曲专辑，并且其中的一首“在你漫游这个青山州（指美国佛蒙特州）时”开始响起。
在日本，秋叶的颜色是受人尊敬的，就像盛开的樱花一样，它们都象征着生命的短暂。在日语中，观赏秋叶被称为momiji-gari，翻译过来就是参观一个正在改变颜色的地方。全国各地每天都有这方面的电视报道，尤其是在每年的这个时候。
这个传统源于古代，那个时候，贵族阶级每到秋季就会到乡下去，弹弹琴，写写诗。如今，这已成为一项大众活动，成了与家人、朋友或同事一同出游或野餐的借口。
在日本观赏秋叶的景点包括：日本本州北部的十和田湖和日光；富士山附近的箱根；京都郊外的岚山，那里每年11月都会举办一次红叶节。
在美国或日本，选择观赏秋叶的最佳时间和地点并非一成不变。理想的情况是，留出足够多的时间用于调整行程，做好继续北上的准备。例如，如果那年的秋叶颜色变化稍晚的话，就再往北走一点。
在英国窥叶
在英国，此时距离秋叶最美之时还有一点时间，但显然，今年将是值得期待的。如果气候变化导致秋叶颜色更浓烈的话，那么，在男孩子们的七叶树果游戏以及11月5日的烟火表演之外，英国人可能会形成自己的秋季传统。能否为“窥叶”这个词换一个说法呢？
英国林业委员会已建立了一个网站，里边有一个非常棒的地图，告诉人们英国哪里的秋色将变浓，标注颜色从“仍为绿色”到“已变金黄”，分为几个级别。上周早些时候，地图上只有几个地方在变黄。
七叶树，尤其是大伦敦地区的七叶树，现在正可怜地模仿秋叶的颜色，然而，这主要是由于一种小飞蛾侵袭的结果。过去几年，英国的这种昆虫数量一直在增长。这种飞蛾的幼虫会侵食树叶内部，并在那里化成蛹，这对树叶造成了巨大伤害，并导致树叶提早脱落。七叶树还一直遭受着干旱和一种严重的伤流溃疡病的侵害。
在英国，若想看到所有种类的红叶树木，最佳景点之一是格洛斯特郡的韦斯顿比特国家植物园(National Arboretum at Westonbirt)。那些不能到美国或日本旅游的人们，可以在这个植物园里品味秋的乐趣：这里有猩红橡、糖枫、红枫和银枫――形成美国著名的新英格兰红叶的就是这些树种；此外，这里还有种类繁多的日本槭树。
今年的树叶为何更红？
如果你想知道树叶为何变色以及如何变色，并且几乎已经记不得学生时代学过的知识的话，那么，这里有一个简单的解释。在春天和夏天，树叶担任着树木的食物工厂角色，它们利用光能将水和二氧化碳转化为糖，为树木生长提供养料。叶细胞中的叶绿素对于这个过程很关键。
正如林业委员会的植物园部主管约翰?韦尔(John Weir)所解释的：“一旦树木停止生长，准备过冬，叶绿素会减少，由其它化学元素来代替，如类胡萝卜素（胡萝卜的颜色正源于此）、花青素和丹宁酸，让树叶变黄、变红和变成金色。”在叶子变色的过程中，多数情况是树叶内在的颜色显露出来，而不是添加了新的颜色。
至于2006年的秋叶颜色为何尤为浓重，其原因显然在于今年夏天的长时间炎热天气。韦尔表示，许多在秋季显色的化学物质，有助于保护树叶避免从阳光中接收太多能量。高温和明亮的阳光创造了一种接近于树木原始生长环境的条件。
适合自家花园的树种
最后，对于那些希望在自家花园观赏秋色的人来说，专家们提供了一些栽种建议。韦斯顿比特国家植物园园长、《小型花园树木》（Trees for Small Gardens，Timber出版社2005年出版）作者西蒙?图默(Simon Toomer)的建议是：鸡爪槭，尤其是“Seiryu”或“Ozakazuki”等栽培品种；血皮槭(Acer griseum)；大型灌木毛黄栌(Cotinus)，包括“优雅(Grace)”和“焰火(Flame)”树种。对于面积较大的花园：建议种植波斯铁木(Parrotia persica)和一些与众不同的连香树(Cercidiphyllum japonicum)，有时被称为棉花糖树，因为当树叶颜色变化时，叶子中释放的焦糖会散发出浓重的气味。
英国园林设计师协会(Society of Garden Designers)主席安德鲁?费希尔?汤姆林(Andrew Fisher Tomlin)也建议种植波斯铁木：“我有三棵这样的树，非常漂亮。”他向我们说起了山毛榉树篱的美丽，还提到了Amelanchier lamarckii以及有着美丽名字的北美枫香(Liquidambar styraciflua)。
同时，在全国针叶植物周(National Conifer Week)结束时，贝奇伯里国家松树园(Bedgebury National Pinetum)园长朱利安?多玛蒂(Julian Dormady)对松树为花园增添的色彩进行了褒奖。秋叶颜色变化往往只与阔叶树有关，但松树的针叶脱落时，也会变成色彩丰富的金色和红色。对于潮湿地带的较大花园而言，可以种植落羽杉（Taxodium distichum，叶子会变成暗红色）和金色落叶松金钱松（Pseudolarix amabilis，叶子会变成金色）。对小花园的建议包括蓝梢沙地柏(Juniperus virginiana Grey owl)，这是一种树冠较小的灰蓝色树木，树叶在冬季会变成紫色。
