Busy craft villages

With less than two weeks until the Lunar New Year, gardeners across the country are busy harvesting and packaging ornamental plants for the market. This year, the weather in some areas has been unfavorable, but in the traditional flower-growing villages, the plants are still well cared for, promising a colorful spring season.

Kumquats are in season, peach blossoms are blooming early.

Traditional craft villages in Hanoi , such as Nhat Tan peach blossom village, Tu Lien kumquat village, and La Ca peach blossom village, have begun to bustle with buyers and sellers; while kumquats are considered to be having a bumper crop, the peach blossoms are blooming early, causing concern among growers.

According to reporters, peach blossoms have begun to bloom in the warm weather at peach orchards in Nhat Tan and La Ca (Hanoi). Some orchard owners said that if the weather warms up between now and Tet, the peak blooming season might not be as favorable as in previous years. Mr. Dang Ba Lam (a peach grower in La Ca) said that, based on his experience, peach blossoms bloom beautifully in leap years, but only if growers time the leaf removal appropriately. In leap years, growers remove leaves 10-15 days later than usual. Mr. Lam predicted that peach prices this year will be more reasonable and not as inflated as last year.

Chrysanthemum garden in Cho Lach commune, Vinh Long province. PHOTO: TIN HUY

Up in Nhat Tan peach blossom village, Mr. Nguyen Duc Quan (Hong Ha ward, Hanoi) said that the price of peach blossoms depends on whether the blossoms are beautiful or not. His family has about 700 trees, mainly the "dark" variety, and they have started selling them to customers. This year, the Hong Ha ward authorities strictly prohibited households growing peach and kumquat trees from selling them on the sidewalks, so the business has had to change. "Usually, people who want to buy peach blossoms have to go to the garden to see and buy them, then transport them home, or use a delivery service. In my opinion, this year the trend is that people are more interested in the light pink peach blossoms, while the traditional dark pink peach blossoms are showing signs of stagnation," Mr. Quan shared.

In Tu Lien kumquat village (Hong Ha ward, Hanoi), the shopping atmosphere is more bustling, with most garden owners having customers buying or placing orders in advance. According to some garden owners, the trend for kumquat trees this year is similar to previous years; some prefer small bonsai kumquats, while others prefer them in Bat Trang ceramic pots or large tanks.

In Ho Chi Minh City, along Pham Van Dong Boulevard (the section passing through Hiep Binh ward), the area has become more bustling these days as many stalls selling Tet apricot blossoms have opened simultaneously to serve the people of Ho Chi Minh City. Many gardeners from Thu Duc apricot blossom village have transported apricot blossoms to display along the road, creating a unique apricot blossom street as spring approaches. Hundreds of apricot blossom pots of various sizes are neatly arranged, ranging from bonsai apricot trees and grafted apricot trees to ancient apricot trees with elaborate shapes.

According to the owners of the apricot blossom gardens, the apricot blossoms offered for sale are all long-standing plants from Thu Duc apricot blossom village. Some garden owners said that, as in previous years, they have to bring the apricot blossoms to market earlier than other ornamental flowers so that customers have time to choose carefully. Mr. Tran Duy Ngoc, owner of Thu Ngoc apricot blossom garden, a well-known apricot blossom wholesaler in Hiep Binh ward, said that at this time, the garden only sells apricot blossoms that have not yet had their leaves removed, with many different varieties.

However, the best-selling apricot blossom variety in recent days is the "Saigon super-flowering" variety, because it has larger flowers, more beautiful colors, and a stronger fragrance compared to the traditional Thu Duc apricot blossom. "The outstanding characteristic of this variety is that it blooms in clusters; one bud can produce 4-12 flower stalks, resulting in a dense and vibrant bloom. Therefore, smaller plants priced around 1 million VND are selling very well, even though Tet (Lunar New Year) is still more than half a month away."

Eat and sleep with flowers.

These days, in Cam Ha (Hoi An Tay ward), the capital of kumquat cultivation, or in the apricot blossom gardens of An Khe ( Da Nang city), the pace of work is more hectic than ever. Kumquat and apricot growers are busy racing against the weather to bring to market pots of kumquats laden with fruit and apricot trees in full bloom at the right time for spring.

Along the roads leading to Cam Ha village, especially in the Nguyen Chi Thanh area, the bustling atmosphere of labor is evident in every garden. Some are pruning branches, others are meticulously tending to the tree trunks, picking off each leaf to perfect the tree's shape before sale. In the middle of a kumquat garden with ripening fruit, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Be (58 years old, Hoi An Tay ward) nimbly uses scissors to trim thin branches and adjust the tree's shape for balance. According to Mrs. Be, this stage is crucial in determining the final appearance of the kumquat tree. "Pruning must be done with just the right amount of force, not too much and not too little. The tree must be neat, the fruit evenly distributed, and the leaves green to attract buyers," Mrs. Be shared.

Flower growers in Thoi An ward (Ho Chi Minh City) carefully tend to their chrysanthemum pots, preparing them for the Lunar New Year market in 2026 (Year of the Horse). PHOTO: Duc Trung

In Da Lat, the flower capital, lily and gerbera growers are worried about labor shortages. Mr. Le Van Diep (from Van Thanh flower village, Cam Ly ward, Da Lat, Lam Dong province), who is tending to over 2,000 square meters of gerberas and 1,000 square meters of lilies, said: “This year, the price of lily bulbs is quite high, over 20,000 VND per bulb, while in previous years it was only about 15,000-17,000 VND per bulb, so the investment costs are higher. However, the weather this year has been quite favorable, and the flowers are developing well.”

Not far away, in Thai Phien flower village (Lam Vien ward - Da Lat), households are also frantically searching for unskilled laborers to focus on the upcoming harvest days. Ms. Le Thanh Hai shared: “Normally, laborers would return home early, around the 20th-23rd of the 12th lunar month, to reduce travel costs, but the peak harvest season follows 3-4 days later, so there will be a shortage of healthy laborers. The hiring rate for labor during Tet is about 1 million VND/day or 300,000 VND/box, double the usual rate.”

In Khanh Hoa, after the historic floods at the end of 2025, despite many difficulties, gardeners are still persevering in production, caring for the remaining flower beds, hoping to supply the market in time for Tet (Lunar New Year). Mr. Trinh Van Trung, manager of Tieu Tu Thien garden (Tay Nha Trang ward, Khanh Hoa province) said: Many apricot blossom trees, about 3 meters tall and worth hundreds of millions of dong, have lost their leaves and damaged buds due to the floodwaters. Contracts to rent apricot blossom trees from agencies and hotels in the Nha Trang area, signed previously, now have to be rented from other places to ensure reputation.

Similarly, in Hoa Thang ward (Khanh Hoa province), considered a major supplier of chrysanthemums for Tet in the South Central region, people are focusing on recovering from the aftermath of the floods. Mr. Doan Truc Hung's family (Hoa Thang ward) rented land to grow nearly 1,000 pots of crystal chrysanthemums and large-flowered chrysanthemums for Tet. The recent flood submerged their flower garden to a depth of nearly 1 meter for 4-5 days, damaging more than half of the plants. Many gardeners here have had to replace soil, change pots, and treat fungal diseases; the work is carried out continuously from early morning to late afternoon, with people even eating and sleeping alongside the flowers.

Regarding the "rescue" of early-blooming chrysanthemums in Cho Lach commune (Vinh Long province) over the past few days, on February 2nd, Mr. Tran Huu Nghi, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Cho Lach commune, said that thanks to the synchronized implementation of multiple sales and product promotion channels, including direct sales at the garden and through digital platforms, farmers in Cai Mon flower village (Cho Lach commune, Vinh Long province) have sold nearly 70% of the early-blooming chrysanthemums. This year's Tet flower season saw the entire commune planting approximately 1.2 million pots of chrysanthemums, of which more than 300,000 pots bloomed early, accounting for about 30%-35% of the total area.

REPORTER TEAM

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/tat-bat-lang-nghe-post836743.html