鼠尾草,你是我最好的舞伴

Sometimes when I am weeding in the late afternoon, I hear the vibrating wings of the ruby-throated hummingbird before I see it dipping its beak into the long tubular flowers of the blue anise sage (Salvia guaranitica) called Black and Blue for its cobalt-blue petals and near-black calyxes at the base of the flowers. Hummingbirds are shy, but if I remain perfectly still, it is usually so intent on the nectar inside those deep blue trumpets that I can admire it out of the corner of my eye as it backs out of one flower and moves on to another. Then, in a flash of iridescent green and red, it is gone.

Black and Blue holds its flowers aloft on footlong spikes that lean into the landscape, contributing to its laid-back personality and to the sense of movement in the garden. This plant has grown so big, it is leaning over the little chicken-wire fence that protects my French filet bean plants from the rabbits. The bean plants are full of snow-white flowers that will soon turn into slender bean pods, given all the bumblebees crawling over the blossoms.

One morning last week, I savored one of those serendipitous moments that no gardener can ever plan for: the deep blue-black salvia flowers mingling with the pure white bean blossoms. Salvias are the perfect dance partners; they make all the other plants look better.

I have a smaller, more demure salvia, S. coccinea Lady in Red rising out of the middle of a patch of cilantro, which I grow for its ferny leaves, to lend a pungent kick to guacamole. This herb shoots up to about three feet in a month and opens airy clusters of little white flowers, so you have to plant more seeds every couple of weeks. Lady in Red is blooming through the cloud of white, and waving her cherry-red lips at the hummingbirds.

我在傍晚除草的时候，偶尔会听到红喉蜂鸟扑腾翅膀的声音，紧接着，就会看到它把喙伸进瓜拉尼鼠尾草(Salvia guaranitica)的管状花朵里。这些花又被称为蓝黑鼠尾草(Black and Blue)，因为其花瓣呈钴蓝色，花朵基部的花萼则近乎黑色。蜂鸟怕人，不过如果我保持一动不动的姿势，它通常就会专心致志从深蓝色喇叭里吸食花蜜了。这样，我就可以用眼角看着它从一朵花飞到另一朵花上。接着，它就会在红绿交织的绚烂色彩中一闪而过，倏而消失。

蓝黑鼠尾草的花朵悬垂在一英尺长(约合30厘米)的穗状花序上，穗状花序斜倚在周围绿色的景观中，展露出闲适自在的意味，给花园带来一丝灵动的生机。这株植物长得太大了，已经伸出了保护菜豆(French filet bean)不被兔子啃食的小铁丝网。菜豆的植株上挂满了雪白的花，有一大群熊蜂正在花朵上忙碌，所以它们很快就会长成狭长的豆荚了。

上周的某个早晨，我体会到了任何园丁都可遇而不可求的一个时刻：深蓝与黑色相间的鼠尾草花与菜豆的纯白色花朵交相辉映，美不胜收。鼠尾草是最好的舞伴;它们能让所有其它植物增色生辉。

我还种植了一种更小、更娇羞的红花鼠尾草“一串红唇”(S. coccinea Lady in Red)，它生长在一片芫荽当中。我种芫荽是因为它那蕨类般的叶片能为鳄梨沙拉酱增添一丝辛辣的风味。这种草本植物在一个月内可以生长三英尺(约合0.9米)左右，并开出一丛又一丛轻飘飘的小白花。因此，你不得不每隔几星期就种下更多的种子。“一串红唇”就盛放于一片白色的芫荽花丛中，对着蜂鸟摇曳它们艳丽的樱桃红唇。