英語播客 A Cup of English：夏天的花朵 Summer Blooms

One of the benefits of growing your own flowers is picking them and bringing them into the house. Bouquets, after all(1), are expensive in the shops. They bring color, and light, and cheer to an entryway or a kitchen table, but I hate to pay ten dollars for something that I can grow for just pennies. It's not just the cost, however. My biggest thrill in gardening is growing plants from seeds. There is something magical about seeing a little piece of nothing sprout, and then eventually produce a flower. So, with scissors in my hand, and a vase full of water, I walk around my back yard and snip(2) here and snip there until the vase is full. But now it's October, and the summer blooms are coming to an end(3). However, you can extend the season a little by doing two things: you cut off the dead heads, and you fertilize. It's a little trick that I learned from my mother who is also a gardening fanatic. This way, you can double the amount of flowers that you get in one season. It's really worth the effort. In fact, a couple of years ago, my garden produced so many flowers while I was on holiday, that my relatives came regularly to gather the flowers for bouquets for their own homes.

1. 'After all' is powerful idiom that means many things: nevertheless, considering the evidence, ultimately. It points to the most important part of a sentence.

a. The train was an hour late, but we arrived on time after all (like nevertheless)

b. I painted each room and rearranged the furniture; after all, it's my house!(ultimately)

c. Heathrow is always packed with people, after all it is one of the busiest airports in the world. (considering the evidence)

2. 'Snip' is both a noun and a verb, and mean a quick, small cut of scissors.

a. I will go to the hair dressers, but I only need a few snips.

b. The instructions for cooking the noodles say," Snip one corner of the plastic packet, and cook in the microwave on high for two minutes."

3. 'To come to an end' is a longer way of saying 'to finish'. It implies that the finishing is taking some time.

a. The long summer days are coming to an end. The days are slowly getting shorter and shorter.

b. The days of the museum are finally coming to an end, after being open for 50 years. (it will close in a few weeks/months)