01.
Flowers of Kunming
Zhang Dai's article mentions "a copy of Yunnan tea" more than once, and Yunnan camellia has been well-known for a long time. Camellia was once selected as the flower of Yunnan Province. I once saw a photo album of "Yunnan Camellias", which was beautifully printed, probably compiled and printed that year. There are many varieties of camellias, with different colors and flower shapes. Yunnan tea is the first in the country and is also a few in the world. This is probably because the climate and soil of Yunnan are particularly suitable for camellias.
A temple in Xishan (forget the name of the temple) has a large black camellia. A camellia occupies more than half of the courtyard in front of the Daxiong Treasure Hall, and the courtyard of the temple is very large. When the flowers bloom, there are at least 100 of them, and the flowers are as big as the mouth of a soup bowl. The thick green leaves and the red flower heads make people have no time to look closely, and they only feel that a large piece of fierce roar is really spectacular. The monks in the temple were afraid that the body of the tree would not be able to bear the weight of so many flower heads, so they built a large shelf with fir wood to support the branches on all sides. I have never seen such a tall camellia in my life.
Camellia flowers have a long flowering period. It seems that I have never seen a camellia withered on a tree. This is also the value of camellia. Tang Xianzu named his living room "Jade Tea Hall". Mr. Yu Pingbo said in an article that jade tea is a precious white camellia. I don't seem to have found the name "jade tea" in the album "Yunnan Camellia". However, I believe that there must be jade tea in Yunnan, maybe by some other name.
The spring rain is sufficient, the wind is warm, and the cherry blossoms in Yuantong Park are in full bloom. When the flowers are in bloom, there are many tourists and many bees. There are many rockeries in Yuantong Park, and cherry blossoms bloom up and down on the rockery. The cherry blossoms have no posture, and the flower shape is usual, too, and it is not patient to look closely, but it deserves a "sheng" word. So many flowers, like bright clouds and snow, are really lively! In the dazzling light of flowers, the ears are full of buzzing bee sounds, which makes people feel a little dizzy. At this time, people and cherry blossoms have become one. The wind and the sun are warm, and people are not recognized as artificial flowers in flowers.
I was a guest at the house of a gentleman whose daughter was a classmate of ours. This gentleman, who had been the chief of education for many years, lived at home for many years, and every day apart from reading newspapers, studying wars fought far away, talking about Chinese thread-bound books and France novels, the rest of his hobby was growing orchids. There are dozens of pots of orchids in his living room. This room seems to have been permeated by the aroma of orchids, and the screen windows and bamboo curtains all have a faint fragrance. It was quiet inside and outside the house. Sitting in this living room, drinking "Yunnan green" with a fine porcelain bowl, looking at the orchid leaves, the delicate and elegant orchid arrows, smelling the aroma of orchids, I really don't know where I am.
One of my teachers lived in Chenggong Taoyuan for a few years. His landlord also loves to grow orchids. Almost forty years later, this gentleman is still alive, already an old man. After the "Cultural Revolution", his orchids were able to be preserved. His daughter wanted to come to Beijing to play, and persuaded her father to go to Beijing as well, but the old man disagreed, saying, "What are these orchids of mine?"
There are many osmanthus flowers in Kunming, the trees are big, the leaves are luxuriant, and the flowers are numerous. Every rainy season, a city is the strong fragrance of Burmese osmanthus, I have mentioned in "The Rain of Kunming", I will not repeat it.
02.
Autumn flowers in Beijing
Osmanthus wins with more. "Dream of Red Mansions" Xue Pan's wife Xia Jingui's family "has dozens of acres of land to grow osmanthus flowers", and is known as the "Osmanthus Xia Family". "Dozens of acres of land planted with osmanthus" is really a big view! There are a lot of osmanthus flowers in the new capital of Sichuan. Yang Sheng'an Ancestral Hall is in Guihu Lake, planting osmanthus flowers around the lake, from the mountain slope to the water Mei, layer upon layer, all are osmanthus. I went to the new capital to pay homage to the temple and once wrote a poem: the old Guihu has new branches, and the old temple of the lake has risen to the temple. A kind of romance who is like, the champion lyrics and poems of the ministers.
Yang Sheng'an is a talented man, with a first-class and a middle jinshi, and there are 70 kinds of works. He was convicted of "discussing the great gift", and was more than 70 years old in Yunnan, and died in Yongchang. Chen Laolian once painted his portrait, "drunk hairpins are full of flowers", his face is red, he looks drunk. Judging from Chen Laolian's portrait, Sheng'an is a tall fat man. But Chen Laolian is probably painted by imagination, not necessarily like Sheng'an. The people of Xindu built a shrine in Guihu for him, and the deceased of Sheng'an should be relieved to know about it.
There are not many osmanthus flowers in Beijing, and there are no big trees. There are a few trees in the Summer Palace, and no one pays attention to them. I once lived in Zaojian Hall, and there were two osmanthus trees in the corridor, which were planted in pots, less than one person high! I suggest a little more osmanthus in Beijing. Osmanthus flowers are beautiful and shaded, the leaves are firm, and they do not wither in winter. The flowering is extremely fragrant, and the dried can be used to make Lantern Festival stuffing and rice cakes. There is both ornamental value and economic value, so why not?
There are a lot of pots of chrysanthemums at the Canton Fair in autumn. The Canton Fair is over, and the chrysanthemums have not yet completely opened. A Japan businessman asked the manager, "What are you going to do with these flowers?" Answer: "Throw it away!" "Don't throw it away, I'll buy it." He gave a little money, wrapped all the chrysanthemums that were still in full bloom, booked a plane, flew the chrysanthemums from Guangzhou to Japan, and put up a big poster: "China Chrysanthemum Exhibition". Tickets are sold, and there are a lot of people who visit. He made a lot of money. This incident made me have two feelings: First, Japan businessmen really have business acumen, and they will not let go of any opportunity to make money, and our managers are masters, and they cannot grasp the money they get. Second, Chinese chrysanthemums are good and can be appreciated by Japan.
Chinese grow up in art chrysanthemums, I don't know what year it began, there are several cities in the country chrysanthemums are famous, such as Yangzhou, Zhenjiang, Hefei, north of the Yellow River, with Beijing as the most. There are many varieties of chrysanthemums, perhaps the most numerous of the many flowers.
First of all, there are various colors. The first chrysanthemums were probably only yellow. "Ju has Huanghua", "scattered yellow flowers are full of gold", "Huanghua" and chrysanthemum are synonymous. Later, it developed to all colors. Yellow, white, purple, red, pink, all there. Norway essayist Belun. Belsheng said that among all kinds of flowers, only chrysanthemums are green, and not necessarily, peonies, peonies, and moons are all green, but there are no green chrysanthemums as green as new tender broad beans. When I returned to my hometown a few years ago, I saw a pot of green chrysanthemums in the park. Secondly, the petals come in a variety of shapes, including flat, rolled, and tubular petals. In Zhenjiang Jiaoshan, I have seen a pot of "ten-zhang bead curtain" slender tube petals drooping to the ground, saying "ten-zhang" of course not, but three or four feet are there.
The chrysanthemums in Beijing are similar to those in the south, with lion heads, crab claws, small gooses, and large golden-backed ..... Both the north and the south are similar, and some even have the same name. For example, a kind of light red petals, extremely thin and curly like a messy hair, Shanghainese people call it "lazy grooming", and Beijingers also call it "lazy grooming" because of its charm. Some southern chrysanthemum species are rare in Beijing. Yangzhou people value "dawn", saying that its color is like the dawn of the clouds, and Beijing does not seem to have it. "Ten zhang bead curtain", I have never seen it in Beijing. "Maple Leaf Chinese Restaurant Reed Flower", purple flat petals, with white spots, have not been seen.
The best chrysanthemum I've ever seen in Beijing is at Mr. Lao She's house. Every year, Mr. Lao She invites the cadres of the Beijing Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the Cultural Bureau to his house for a gathering, once in the month of Wax, Mr. Lao She's birthday (I remember it is the twenty-third day of the Lunar Month); Once is around the Double Ninth Festival, enjoy chrysanthemums. Mr. Lao She's brother is very good at playing with chrysanthemums. The flowers are bright; The dishes have Beijing characteristics (such as stewed yellow croaker with sesame sauce, "box dishes"); The wine is "open to supply" both drunk and full, and it has not been forgotten to this day.
I don't approve of engaging in chrysanthemums and chrysanthemums, so that the chrysanthemums are all in order, sitting in rows, or crowded into a pile, making noise and shouting. Chrysanthemums still have to be looked at one by one, one by one. I don't approve of tying chrysanthemums into dragons and lions, which is simply a waste of chrysanthemums.
I haven't seen okra in Beijing, but I think there is. Okra is very easy to grow, and it can bloom by throwing a few seeds between the hedges and stone crevices. Or if you don't annoy the human race, you can also drive it yourself. The petals are large, the flowers are pale yellow, almost colorless, the petals have fine veins, and there are purple spots on the inside of the petals near the center of the flower. The okra is windy, and it is lonely. I don't know why, okra reminds me of a female Taoist. Okra is also known as chicken foot sunflower and resembles chicken feet with its leaves.
I saw a large clump of cockscomb flowers in the guest house of the county party committee in my hometown, which was taller than a human head, as big as a sweeping broom, and the color was so dark that it was frightening. Beijing cockscomb has never seen such a rude.
Impatiens can be dyed, so it is also known as henna. Impatiens mashed, into alum, applied to the fingertips, that is, wrapped in impatiens leaves, overnight, the nails are red. Impatiens stems can grow very thick, Hunan people or pickle them in stinky jars to accompany porridge, which tastes like stinky amaranth stalks.
There are many begonias in Beijing, and Qi Baishi likes to paint them. Painted by Qi Baishi, the flower stalk is quite long, which is called "Ganoderma lucidum begonia" in my house, the flowers are mostly five-petaled, but the begonia is four-petaled. There are silver star begonias in Beijing, the big leaves are very thick, sprinkled with silver stars, and the poles are also tall and strong, almost woody. I'm not very interested in this kind of begonia like Sun Erniang. The begonias I never forget are always thin and thin. My biological mother had lung disease, and she was afraid of infecting others, so she was sick alone, and in a side room, we all called the cottage "small room". She wouldn't let people see her, and my nanny wanted to take me to show her, and she didn't agree. So I have no impression of my mother. After her death, this "little room" became a storage room for her dowry, locked as an adult. My stepmom occasionally opened it and fetched a thing or two, and I followed. There is a small patio outside the "small house", and there is a small flower bed in the shape of autumn leaves against the wall, I don't know who planted two or three begonias, and no one cares about it, it even blooms in autumn. The flowers are pale and look very pitiful.
Wherever I look, I always think of my mother.
Frost leaves are red in February. The red leaves of Nishiyama are coxagulus, not maple. I thought it would be better to plant some maple trees to make them more colorful. Japan Kaede is cute and can be introduced. In recent years, there have been a lot of creepers planted in Beijing, and in autumn, the leaves of the creepers turn red. The creepers along the street are red. Autumn in Beijing is thick.
03.
Plants and trees in the world
I dug up a shandandan tree in Daqingshan. There are so many flowers on this Shandandan tree. The old fort who entertained us looked at it and said, "This Shandandan is thirteen years old." "Thirteen years? How do you know?" Shandandan grows for a year and blooms one more flower. You see, thirteen. "Shandandan remembers his age. I wanted to bring this Shandandan back to Hohhot, but after thinking about it, I found a shovel and dug a pit on the earthen platform full of blue Codonopsis flowers in the old fortress household, and planted this Shandandan tree. Ask the old fortress household: "Can you live?" I can live. This thing, it's solid. ”
Daqingshan is full of shandandan, with seven flowers, eight flowers, and more. Year after year, the author of this popular song may not know that Shandandan blooms more than one flower in a year. The singing star will not even know.
Goji berries are available everywhere. Goji berries are wild vegetables in spring. Pick the tender heads of wolfberries, blanch them slightly, chop them, mix them with dried dices, and pour soy sauce and vinegar sesame oil; Or stir-fry in an oil pan, all of which are very fragrant. In late summer and early autumn, small lilac flowers bloom, and no one pays attention. This is followed by small, red, ovoid berries, known as goji berries. My hometown is called Dog Tits.
I was walking in Yuyuantan and saw an old couple bending over to find something in the grass under a mountain bag. As they walked, they searched. Take a few steps, stop, and bend over. "What are you two looking for?" "Goji berries." "Is there one?" The old comrade held up a canned glass bottle in his hand and showed me that it was already half a bottle. "Quite a few!" Many! He laughed a few times. "You pick it up slowly!" Pick it up slowly!'
It seems that this old couple is a retired cadre, dressed neatly and cleanly, and looks very good. What do they pick goji berries for? Is it dispensing? Soaking wine? Not exactly, it seems. If you really need it, you can ask an acquaintance to bring a little or send a little from Ningxia. Listening to the accent, the old comrade is from the northwest, and there will definitely be acquaintances over there. They pick up goji berries and it's just playing! Picking up goji berries while walking is more interesting than just walking. These are two old people with childlike hearts, two old children!
When people are old, they have to learn to live like this. It seems that these two middle-aged people are also very good at life and will find fun in life. They must be very nice and kind. They must not be greedy for power and power, and are willing to be indifferent. Husbands and wives will not quarrel over firewood, rice, oil, salt, and children's marriage. On the way from Diaoyutai to Ganjiakou shopping mall, in the west of the road, there is a big cluster of wolfberries planted on the door, and a lot of wolfberries are produced in autumn, which are red and red, like ceremonial flowers, hanging down like a fountain, and a canopy made of coral beads is very good-looking. This clump of wolfberries can be brought to the flower party for exhibition. How did this family think of planting a clump of wolfberries on the door?
The acacia flowers in Yuyuantan are in full bloom, like a heavy snowfall, and they are dazzlingly white. Here comes the beekeeper. The beehives were all placed, and his "home" was settled. A thick black canvas canopy with paint on it. There were two earthen weirs in it, and a few wooden planks were erected on them, which were beds. A roll of bedding on the bed. There are oil bottles, soy sauce bottles, and vinegar bottles lined up on the ground. There is already more than half a bucket of honey in a white iron bucket. Outside, a pot sits on a honeycomb coal stove. A woman chops garlic on a cutting board. The pot was boiling, and she put a handful of dry cut noodles into the pot. After a while, the noodles were cooked, so she scooped the noodles into a bowl, added seasonings, sprinkled green garlic, and scooped half a spoonful of watercress in a bowl. One bowl per person. She eats watercress with it. The bees are busy picking barbars, flying in and out all day.
I bought honey twice from the beekeeper, walked around Yuyuantan, and when I passed his shed, I mostly sat on the stump in front of his door, smoked a cigarette, watched him collect honey, scraped wax, and chatted with him, and we were all familiar with each other.
This is a middle-aged man in his fifties, tall and thin, his body doesn't seem to be very good, he is always so calm and slow. He doesn't look like a farmer, but a bit like a rural elementary school principal. Listening to the accent, it is from the Shijiazhuang area. He has been to many provinces, and wherever there are flowers, he goes. Where cauliflower blooms, where roses bloom, where apple blossoms bloom, where jujube blossoms bloom. Every year, I go to the south to spend the winter, Guangxi, Guizhou. When it comes to the warm spring, turn north. I asked him if the nectar of jujube flowers was the best, and he said that the nectar of vitex flowers was the best. It came as a surprise to me. Vitex is an inconspicuous thing, and I have never seen Vitex bloom, and I can't imagine that Vitex nectar is the best honey. I think his annual income should be good, he said that it is better than that of ordinary farmers, but it is not much less: bee equipment, travel expenses; And it has to pay dozens of catties of sugar every year, and the bees don't collect honey in winter, so they have to feed it sugar.
The woman was apparently his wife. But the age difference between them is too great. He's in his fifties, and a woman is in her early thirties. Moreover, she is from Sichuan and speaks Sichuanese. I asked him how did you meet? He said she was from Xinfan County. That year he went to Xinfanfang Bee and got acquainted. She said that the rice in the north was delicious, so she followed. Is it that simple? Maybe she took a fancy to his good temper and liked such a quiet and peaceful personality? Maybe she thinks this kind of bee life, running around in the southeast and northwest, is fun? It's a rural-style romanticism. Sichuan girls tend to do things freely and freely, and they can do whatever they want, unlike girls in the north who have so much consideration. They have been married for a few years. Her husband is kind to her, and she is also very considerate to her husband. She felt that her choice was not wrong, she was satisfied, and she did not regret it. I asked the beekeeper: Has she ever been back? He said, "Go back once, alone." He asked her to bring two thousand yuan, and she bought a lot of gifts to give away, and went back to Xinfan in style.
One day, I didn't see the woman and asked the beekeeper where she had gone. The beekeeper said, "Go to my eldest son's house, and pick up my eldest son's child." He has an eldest son who works in Beijing as a worker in an auto repair factory. She picked up a boy over four years old and took him to live in the shed for a few days. She took him to Ganjiakou shopping mall to buy clothes, shoes, biscuits, and rock sugar gourds. The boy was playing with chickens pecking rice on the bed, and she leaned on the quilt to hook him with a hook needle to hook a big red woolen hat.
She loved this child very much. This kind of love is completely non-utilitarian, neither to please the husband nor to get along with the husband's son's family. This is a very kind and beautiful heart. The child called her grandma, and the grandma smiled. A few days later, she sent the child back again. Two days later, I went for a walk in Yuyuantan, and the beekeeper's shed was dismantled, and the beehives were gathered together. When I came back from my walk, the beekeeper's eldest son drove a truck and loaded the stakes, planks, coal stoves, pots and bowls, and beehives.
The acacia flowers of Yuyuan Lake have fallen.