The vibrant colors of Nam Dien flowers

From Do Quan Bridge, traveling down National Highway 21 for about 6km, travelers encounter a long stretch of lush green street, vibrant with flowers in all seasons. Nam Dien Flower Street (Vi Khe Ward) was established about 5 or 6 years ago, with approximately 40 households engaged in growing and selling flowers and ornamental plants. Most of them have their origins in Vi Khe, quickly seizing business opportunities to open nurseries and introduce the main flower and ornamental plant products of the locality.

Tuan Hung Garden House, located on Nam Dien flower street in Vi Khe ward, provides employment for many local workers.

Leading us on a tour around her vast garden, Ms. Nguyen Thi Dong, owner of Uy Dong Garden in Nam Dien flower street, enthusiastically introduced each "precious" tree in her house. Ms. Dong said: "My husband and I are the third generation in our family to continue the tradition of growing ornamental plants. The hobby of cultivating plants requires a lot of effort and demands great patience and perseverance. If you want quick profits from growing ornamental plants, it's very difficult to sustain the profession in the long run."

With a total area of ​​nearly 3 acres, divided into 4 gardens, Ms. Dong's family currently has tens of thousands of ornamental plants of various kinds, making it the largest garden in Nam Dien flower street. She has over 500 trees of various species such as Ficus microcarpa, Juniper, and Podocarpus. To cultivate a complete, long-lived ornamental tree, she either buys saplings or propagates them from her own garden. Some beautiful saplings cost up to tens of millions of dong. Based on the existing shape of the saplings, Ms. Dong and her husband find ways to create different styles.

Emphasizing elegance and refinement, Ms. Dong chooses bonsai trees with a crane-like, upright (straight and majestic) shape. To express a harmonious family life and the loving embrace of mother and child, she creates a "mother-child bond" style. To represent a father's guidance of his son on life's arduous journey, she creates a "father-son partnership" style . Mimicking the dragon-phoenix dance ( a phoenix dancing to the music ) , she shapes the trees gracefully like a bird's wings. For bonsai trees several decades old, Ms. Dong shapes them to create a sense of abundance and togetherness.

“ Each bonsai tree I shape not only exudes beauty but also conveys the content, wishes, and aspirations of the bonsai enthusiast. Therefore, in addition to creativity and skillful pruning techniques, a bonsai tree shaper must possess calmness, meticulousness, and patience,” Ms. Dong further shared. Having worked in the profession for many years, Ms. Dong's garden now boasts dozens of rare, valuable, and long-lived bonsai trees with high economic value.

The Ta Dung garden, owned by the Do Thi Dung family, attracts visitors who come to browse and purchase ornamental plants.

Like Ms. Dong's family, Ms. Do Thi Dung's Ta Dung garden has a very large area of ​​about 2 acres , divided into 3 different gardens. Sharing the reason for moving to Nam Dien flower street to live and do business , Ms. Dung said: "Nam Dien flower street is located right on National Highway 21, which is convenient for travel and business. Since moving to the flower street, we have more customers, and our family's business has developed significantly."

In Nam Dien flower street, besides cultivating and selling perennial ornamental plants, nurseries also propagate and import many different types of ornamental plants and flowers for sale. They categorize plants into groups: landscaping plants, miniature landscapes, bonsai, shade trees, mini ornamental plants, and various types of flowering plants… Here, buyers can easily find tea plants, chrysanthemums, azaleas, peonies, cypress , and water jasmine laden with fruit… for just a few tens of thousands of dong, to centuries-old banyan and fig trees that are valued very highly. Some plants are grown from seedlings by the nurseries, while others are imported wholesale from provinces and cities such as Hai Phong , Quang Ninh, Hung Yen, Thanh Hoa, and Lam Dong…

In recent years, to cater to diverse market demands, nurseries in Nam Dien flower street have also imported a number of ornamental plants and trees originating from Japan or China for sale. At Tuan Hung nursery , in addition to familiar flowering plants , there are now quite a few imported plants such as Japanese pine, cycad, camellia , peony , magnolia … in various sizes and shapes . “ These flower and plant varieties not only enrich the flower and ornamental plant market but also meet the diverse needs of families for plants in different spaces,” shared the owner of Tuan Hung nursery. Besides growing and selling plants, the nurseries also sell seeds, gardening tools, fertilizers, plant growth stimulants, and pesticides. We offer design and construction services for gardens, rockeries , parks, flower gardens, memorial houses, hotels, restaurants, traditional houses, historical sites, etc. Currently, Nam Dien flower street has about 10 households with large-scale gardens, such as Tuan Hung, Uy Dong, Ta Dung…

Nam Dien Flower Street in Vi Khe ward is home to many households that grow and sell flowers and ornamental plants.

In Nam Dien flower street , the gardeners' businesses are bustling year-round. However, during Tet (Lunar New Year) and the beginning of the new year, the gardens are usually busier. Currently, in addition to direct sales at the gardens, some households also apply technology to promote and sell flowers and ornamental plants. Through social media platforms such as Facebook, Zalo, TikTok, and e-commerce platforms like Shopee and Lazada, gardeners organize live streams to introduce and sell products, attracting many people to learn about and buy plants. Each gardener has loyal customers throughout the North and South of Vietnam, especially regular customers who have been buying plants for many years in Quang Ninh and Hai Phong. Each year, from growing flowers and ornamental plants, after deducting expenses , each gardener earns between 300-400 million VND, creating regular jobs for 5-7 workers with salaries ranging from 7-15 million VND per person per month.

The economic success of the gardens in Nam Dien flower street demonstrates the dynamism and creativity of the people , and affirms the correct direction in the economic development strategy of Vi Khe ward. Comrade Do Dinh Diem, Permanent Deputy Secretary of the Ward Party Committee, said: “ After the merger , the ward's development space has expanded, creating conditions for Vi Khe to develop its resources and strengths. The ward's thematic resolution for the 2025-2030 period identifies flower and ornamental plant cultivation as a key economic sector, thus receiving attention and investment in the right direction. The ward has formed specialized production areas that bring high economic efficiency, such as: the area specializing in traditional and artistic ornamental plants in Dien Xa; the area specializing in peach blossom and kumquat trees in Nam My; the tea and begonia growing area in Nam Toan; and various fresh flowers and kumquats for Tet in Nam Phong . The development of flower and ornamental plant cultivation in Vi Khe simultaneously creates opportunities for Nam Dien flower street to diversify products, expand markets, and promote local identity.”

Leaving Nam Dien flower street as the midday sun grew brighter, the impression of a long, lush green street still lingered in our minds. Starting from the local traditional flower and ornamental plant cultivation, the hardworking farmers of Vi Khe, with their talent and "dare to think, dare to do" spirit, have boldly sought new production and business directions that bring sustainable economic benefits. From this traditional craft, many farmers have become millionaires, contributing to building a more prosperous and beautiful homeland, "keeping the flame" of the traditional craft alive.

Text and photos: Hoa Xuan

Source: https://baoninhbinh.org.vn/pho-hoa-nam-dien-260525153130212.html