香溢蘭花村

早在1999年5月，具有1300多年歷史的古城蘭溪，就被中國特產之鄉推薦暨宣傳活動組委會授予“中國蘭花之鄉”桂冠。

這個蘭花之鄉名副其實，這里幾乎家家戶戶栽培蘭花、癡迷蘭花，一年四季，空氣中彌漫著幽蘭的芳香，特別是蘭陰山麓的蘭花村，更是人人動手，戶戶種蘭，蘭香四溢，流傳著樁樁件件癡迷蘭花的佳話。

種蘭清溪東

蘭溪因蘭江兩岸盛產蘭花而名。蘭溪的種蘭史可以上溯到唐代蘭溪建縣之初，其時就涌現出許多植蘭高手。貫休的《書陳處士屋壁》，對蘭溪植蘭有過這樣的吟詠：有叟傲堯日，發白肌膚紅。妻子亦讀書，種蘭清溪東。

貫休是唐末蘭溪太平鄉人，詩書畫“三絕”，特別是羅漢畫舉世無雙?！度圃姟肥珍浟素炐莸脑娮?94首，其中有9首寫到了蘭花。他在詩中特別提及和推崇的“陳處士”，是蘭溪游埠人。陳處士素愛蘭花，常年在游埠潦溪東岸栽蘭五畝，寫下了洋洋萬言的《種蘭篇》。據考，陳處士的《種蘭篇》比南宋趙時庚的《金漳蘭譜》還要早出330余年，是中國第一部栽蘭專著。蘭溪植蘭名人輩出，元朝蘭溪植蘭能手金似孫，所培植的蘭花竟然開出了并頭花，于是他廣邀詩友賞蘭吟誦，一時傳為佳話。明代的蘭溪人唐龍，曾任兵部尚書，善植蘭，常賦蘭花詩，其中最膾炙人口的是《蘭陰春馥》中的“蘭花十里照春水，山鳥無聲香自幽”之詠蘭佳句。清代的著名戲劇大師李漁，因愛蘭在老家蘭溪建了“伊山別業”(別墅)，在“別業”中遍植蘭花；他寓居南京時，又筑“芥子園”，并在園中建造“佩蘭亭”。他精心撰就的《蘭》《蕙》兩篇散文，是他平日品蘭、賞蘭的心血結晶。

更讓蘭溪聲名遠播的，是1916年蘭溪養蘭名師陳元吉培育出了元吉梅，這是蘭花家庭中的名門貴族，至今也很難覓得。

幽幽蘭花村

蘭花村位于明朝正德皇帝題詞的《蘭陰深處》之蘭溪市蘭陰山北麓，這里環境深幽，芳香四溢。走進蘭花村便像走進蘭花世界。小小的蘭花村竟有200個“蘭花苑”，每苑至少植有千盆蘭花。

蘭花村青瓦白壁馬頭墻，民居的造型為典型的江南風格。其居民的主體是由蘭江兩岸愛好蘭花的村民聚居而成，也有從四川、福建、遼寧、河南等省遠道而來在此定居的蘭花大戶。

這個村每戶都有一個蘭花苑，每苑占地均在一畝以上，苑中有種植蘭花的大棚、蘭花展室以及屋頂花園等等。一戶一苑，一苑便成一景，讓人看得眼花繚亂，目不暇接!更是到了一年一度的蘭花節，來這里賞蘭花的、買蘭花的以及從四面八方云集于此的客商，村里一時成了蘭花鬧市!

村因蘭花而名，村民們也因蘭花而大顯身手。

蘭溪市蘭花學會副會長凌華早在上世紀80年代就在家中養植蘭花，他不僅在蘭花村有蘭苑，還在住宅的頂樓開辟了華馨蘭苑、設立恒溫室，培育出嬌美人、翠晶荷、孔雀梅鼎、綠云牡丹、東方神獅等10多種名貴蘭花品種。養蘭花之余，他還經常撰寫養蘭心得，有多篇文章發表在《中國花卉盆景》《花卉》《蘭友》等刊物上。蘭溪市蘭花協會會長柳柏椿，對蘭花用情更專，不僅自己養蘭，還鼓勵女兒、外甥女等后輩養蘭。他愛蘭如癡如醉，為集名蘭，耗費千元萬元在所不惜。被譽為“蘭壇怪才”的鄭更生，數年來在蘭花村創辦“更生園”，成立了“蘭花盆景批發大世界”。他雖已年過“花甲”，但為覓蘭花珍品、奇品，常常單槍匹馬地騎摩托車去龍游、建德、婺城、金東等地大山之中東奔西走，尋尋覓覓，一有所獲，便高興得像孩子一般!

幽蘭情誼傳佳話

蘭花村的名聲如今名聞遐邇，成了名副其實的友誼使者。世界蘭蕙交流協會會長黃秀球，對蘭溪蘭花鐘愛有加，2000年3月，蘭溪市蘭花村創辦初期，他就親筆題寫了“中國蘭花之鄉浙江蘭溪”詞條贈予蘭溪。張學良生前是黃秀球的蘭友，張學良的“愛國蘭”便是通過他的介紹推薦而享譽世界的。當黃秀球得知蘭溪人渴望得到張學良的“愛國蘭”的美好愿望后，黃秀球便專程從臺灣奔赴蘭溪，把張將軍培育的“愛國蘭”送到蘭溪市蘭花協會會長柳柏椿手里。經柳柏椿數年精心培育，如今“愛國蘭”已由一苗發展到五六苗，生長態勢良好；蘭溪市蘭花學會副會長凌華嗜奇蘭如命，他得知有種形似杜鵑的奇蘭便到處尋覓，只因求“奇”心切，數次受騙，此事傳開，感動了此種蘭花的真正花主——四川蘭界泰斗羅文典，他將別人必須3.8萬元才能夠得到的一苗奇蘭，以2萬元的特優價轉售給了凌華。奇蘭為媒，從此凌華便與羅文典成了莫逆之交，后來羅文典攜家來蘭花村落戶，與凌華等人共同致力于發展蘭花村的蘭花事業。蘭史專家鮑運達，在蘭溪家鄉邊養蘭邊研究蘭史。他從浩如煙海史料中，考證出蘭溪種蘭史始于初唐，并撰寫了多篇有關蘭花的論文。此外，植蘭能手鄭更生、柳柏椿、“余蝴蝶”等，都在蘭花事業中孜孜探求、拼搏，被蘭農們傳為佳話。

Fragrant Orchid Village

By Hu Xingu

Lanxi， an ancient city in central Zhejiang Province， literally means Orchid Brook in Chinese. In May 1995， it was designated as the Home of Chinese Orchids.The 1，300-year-old city is worthy of the name， for almost all households in the rural areas of the city cultivate orchids. There are orchid buffs everywhere. The fragrance of the flower fills the air throughout the year.

Lanxi has been popular for more than a thousand years for orchids cultivation along its zigzagging banks. The history of orchid cultivation dates back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907) when Lanxi County was first set up. A Lanxi local surnamed Chen worked on his orchid farm on the eastern bank of the Orchid Brook and later wrote China’s very first academic book on orchid cultivation in the Tang Dynasty. Guan Xiu， a contemporary of Chen and an eminent poet， visited Chen’s orchid farm and wrote poems to record what he witnessed there. Of the 694 poems that appear under his name in the Complete Poetry of the Tang， nine are about orchid.

Orchid Village in Lanxi is a world of orchids. The small village of orchids has two hundred garden-styled orchid farms. Most villagers here are local orchid enthusiasts and some are orchid farmers who migrated from other provinces and have settled down in the village. Each of these farms has a green house covered by plastic sheets and a show room. Each farm house has a rooftop orchid garden. The village holds an annual orchid festival. During the festival， visitors flock to the village. And orchids traders come here to make good deals.

Ling Hua， deputy director of the Lanxi Orchids Association， operates an orchid farm in the village. He started his orchid business in his own garden in the early 1980s. Now he not only owns an orchid garden， but also has a green house that keeps a constant temperature all the year around. Among his orchids are more than 10 valuable species with poetic names such as Beauty， Crystal Lotus， Peacock Plum Blossom， Green Peony， and Oriental Lion. Liu Baichun， director of the Lanxi Orchids Association， puts his heart and soul into orchids. A collector of famous orchids， he has spent a big fortune on the flowers he loves so dearly.Zheng Gengsheng runs an orchid wholesales market in the village， but he does not just sit at home to cultivate orchids. He often rides his motorbike to remote mountains in Zhejiang Province seeking precious orchid species. Bao Yunda， a self-made scholar of orchid history， works his own orchid farm and traces the local tradition in history in his leisure time. It is Bao that has traced the orchid tradition to the early period of the Tang Dynasty. He has written a few papers on orchids.

(Translated by David)