Mountain Girl and Lily Dream

Customers are visiting Ms. Dinh Thi Ngoc's flower garden in person.

Customers visit the flower garden of Ms. Dinh Thi Ngoc.

Ms. Dinh Thi Ngoc's flower garden is nestled at the foot of a hill in a Tay ethnic village in Phu Thong commune. Each pot of lilies is carefully tended by her; the lilies, in a variety of colors, proudly stretch towards the morning sun, emitting a gentle fragrance that compels anyone passing by to stop and admire them.

Having grown many kinds of flowers, Ms. Ngoc's special connection came through hyacinths. Initially, she only grew two traditional local varieties of hyacinths: velvet red and double red.

However, with a special passion for this flower and a desire to increase the economic value of the plant, since 2013, she has begun researching and collecting new varieties of amaryllis from many countries to bring back and experiment with growing them.

Unlike most flower growers who choose to sell cut flowers or fresh flowers, she took a bold path: breeding, hybridizing, and supplying flower bulbs to both domestic and international markets.

According to Ms. Ngoc, amaryllis plants are quite easy to grow, but controlling the flowering to achieve desired results and creating unique hybrids requires skill. The more unique and rare the plant, the higher its value. Simply growing existing varieties makes it difficult to compete in the market and attract customers. Currently, Ms. Ngoc's garden has over 10,000 amaryllis bulbs, most of which she and her husband have created through hybridization and propagation.

"While traditional hyacinth bulbs cost around 12-20 thousand dong each, hybrid varieties are ten times more expensive, with some plants costing 400-500 thousand dong, and even rare, unique plants can cost millions of dong," Ms. Ngoc shared.

Ms. Ngoc checks on the flower's growth process.

From just a few original varieties, Ms. Dinh Thi Ngoc's amaryllis garden now boasts thousands of different species, many of which have rare colors such as pinkish-orange, red with white edges, or blue stripes… She has given some varieties unique names, creating exclusive and one-of-a-kind "brands," which attract many traders to buy them.

According to Ms. Ngoc, this type of flower is suitable for display indoors and can also be planted in parks, urban areas, restaurants, hotels, and resorts. In particular, planted flowers are a popular choice for many customers.

Thanks to effectively utilizing social media, especially Facebook and TikTok, the videos that Ms. Ngoc posts about the process of caring for and breeding lilies, or the moments when lilies bloom brilliantly, have attracted hundreds of thousands of views.

From then on, she began receiving many orders both domestically and internationally, including from demanding but potentially lucrative markets such as China, India, and Thailand. Every month, she exports hundreds of amaryllis bulbs, with revenue sometimes reaching hundreds of millions of VND. "I didn't think my flowers would be so popular with foreigners," Ms. Ngoc excitedly said.

The initial success of the model lies not only in its commercial value but also in creating stable jobs for 3 workers, contributing to increased income and sustainable agricultural economic development.

From cultivating lilies, Ms. Dinh Thi Ngoc has not only achieved financial stability but also built a strong and loving home through her tireless efforts.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/kinh-te/202507/co-gai-pho-nui-and-giac-mo-lan-hue-c752716/