Since the beginning of the last lunar month, ornamental plant gardeners have received tonnes of orders for Tet. Prices of peach blossoms depend on types, age and style. A branch of peach, priced from VND50,000 to VND500,000, is much cheaper than the entire tree, which is sold between VND 1 million to VND40 million.
For example, two popular types of peach flowers, which have light pink and darker pink flowers, can be sold from VND 2 million to VND 10 million for a tree which is 1.3 metres to 2 metres tall and aged from 1 to 7 years.
But for That Thon peach trees, which are considered royal flowers as they are a rare form of plant and require a lot of care from growers, they are much more expensive. A That Thon tree is priced at more than VND 5 million and it can be bought at VND 35 million for an aged-old and big umbrella tree.
Keeping up with this year’s trend, gardeners provide customers with small-sized kumquat trees grown in pig-shaped ceramic pots to celebrate the Year of the Pig.
Truong Ngoc Xuan, owner of an ornamental garden in Bac Tu Liem district, Hanoi, said that the small-sized kumquat trees, which are sold from VND1.5 million to VND2 million each, won a lot of interest from customers as it can fit in apartment buildings in Hanoi. However, it proves very difficult to grow in order to produce large fruits in a small pot.
Xuan revealed that the piggy ceramic pots were made from orders by craftsmen at popular pottery villages of Bat Trang and Phu Lang, while the kumquat trees were imported from Van Giang village, Hung Yen province. This season, he grew nearly 500 kumquat trees in various sizes and types in his garden, worth from VND 3 million to more than dozens of millions of VND each.
Xuan received orders from customers from the end of the 11th lunar month, most of them were office employees who often take time at lunch to shop for an ornamental tree for Tet. The customers then still kept their tree in the garden for caring and will transport it home a few days ahead of Tet. His garden is getting more crowded with customers since the 20th day of the last lunar month.
Small-sized kumquat trees are dominating ornamental gardens this year, Xuan said, citing that up to 70-80% of the total ornamental gardens are growing these trees.
Over the past few years, well-off families have shown interest in displaying roses for Tet, which symbolise love and happiness. The flowers’ thorns are also believed to ward off evils and bad lucks.
Most ancient roses in Vietnam originated from France, each tree can blossom hundreds of flowers, each the same size as a medium bowl and boast charming fragrance. Thien Trang, a young owner of a rose garden in Hanoi, said that during the high season, each rose tree is sold at VND 25 million or even up to VND 150 million for valuable ancient trees.
