Stalls overflow with bouquets in the markets, blooms hang from pot plants in the streets and flower growers make hay while the sun shines. It's spring festival fever. Hoai Nam reports.

 

 

Dinh Tho cares for his his yellow ochna. He sowed the seeds 30 years ago and remembers when the roots of each plant were small. Now they make up a perfect garden of thousands of yellow ochna blossoms.

It's foggy and coldy as Tet approaches. With a week to go, preparations for the holiday already fill the streets in the central city of Da Nang.

During this busy time, bonsai garden owners bring their most beautiful flowers to the market, expecting a good harvest as the year draws to a close. Hundreds of flower and bonsai baskets and pots will be displayed on major streets in the next two weeks.

Every morning Dinh Tho, 76, rushes out of his home in Nguơ Hanh Son District to water his yellow ochna blossom garden, hoping the plants don't die in the dismal weather.

Watering helps clear the frost from the flower bulbs, which are set to blossom in time for the holiday in early February.

The garden has 1,500 ochna blossom plants that have been growing for 30 years. The yellow ochna (Ochna integerrima) features an elegant five-petal flower that stands out from the 150 flower species grown in the northern and southern regions.

Tho said he expects that prosperity will come in the new year when most flowers blossom with six and eight petals.

"Foggy weather would kill the garden, which is my treasure," Tho explained. "I sowed the seeds 30 years ago. I remember when the roots of each plant were small; now, they make up a perfect garden of thousands of yellow apricot blossom plants."

Tho explained that he uses bamboo strings to support the plant stems.

"It takes top-secret skill to create a garden of extraordinary roots and flowers for the Lunar New Year. The roots reveal the age and power that comes with time, while the beauty and elegance of the flowers has fascinated me my whole life," he said.

He explained that bonsai collectors in Hue city prefer the yellow ochna blossom in the shape of a flying dragon.

"The shape illustrates the elegance of Hue people and their unique style," the gardener said. "Bonsai connoisseurs can tell whether a particular bonsai comes from Hue or from the southern provinces."

As the plants are sensitive to climate change and pollution, gardeners have to water them with well water, and chemical fertilizers are prohibited.

"It grows well when we nurse the plant with mind and heart," said the gardener, who whispers to every plant in the morning to help it grow.

For him, growing the plants is not only a peaceful hobby, but a good business.

"People become rich and they want to decorate their houses with extraordinary bonsai. The yellow ochna flower illustrates the prosperity and elegance of well-off businesses," Tho said.

The biggest plant can bring in around VND50 million (US$2,500).

Huynh Tḥ Thien Ngan, 42, a bonsai connoisseur in Da Nang City, said she often decorates her house with ochna integerrima in the Lunar New Year.

"The yellow colour brings a warm and cheerful emotion to the New Year celebration. The colour also symbolises a year of prosperity and happiness," Ngan said.

Although she often buys a plant for her living room, she decided to rent one instead this month due to the recent economic crisis.

The real estate company manager said her business has stagnated over the past two years, but she has so far avoided bankruptcy.

"I have to limit spending for this Tet, so I rent the flower instead of buying it," she said. "I can still decorate the house, but this way I save money."

Businessmen all prefer a vertically placed ochna as they think this will make their business run smoothly in the New Year, while bonsai connoisseurs collect plants shaped like dragons or phoenixes – exquisite symbols of power.

As the Year of the Snake approaches, Tho hopes the garden will earn him a good income and burnish the reputation of the city's bonsai industry. But for the gardener, the plants symbolise more than just profits.

"The garden isn't only my treasure, but my heart and soul," Tho confided.

VNSS