Rose Garden Revives Vietnamese Women in America

Since 2018, when her family moved to San Jose, California, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ha Giang , 53 years old, suddenly found a new passion for gardening, especially growing roses.

Ms. Giang and her family moved to the US in 2015. At first, when her husband went to work and the children went to school, the 53-year-old woman was home alone all day, always feeling empty and sad.

At the end of 2018, the family moved to a new house in San Jose, surrounded by vacant lots with a few fruit trees, the idea of ​​building a flower garden arose in her.

Her childhood dream was to live in a house surrounded by a flower garden, so Ms. Giang convinced her husband to renovate about 200 square meters into small flower gardens.

At first, she went to the garden to buy some rose varieties to plant without choosing carefully. Therefore, the front garden mainly had American hybrid tea roses with large, strong flowers, thick stems and sometimes reaching the roof.

After further research, she planted more hybrid roses such as Floribunda or Grandiflora, especially those of the English breeder David Austin, which have smaller, more productive flowers. The backyard and both sides of the house are covered with these types of flowers.

The San Jose area has a climate and soil favorable for cultivation, so the rose garden can bloom from early spring to early winter. However, due to lack of experience, the flower plants often get white fungus, black spots or rust at first, causing the flowers to lose their fullness and beauty, and the leaves to dry out.

After doing some research, every winter, Ms. Giang cuts the roots to about 40-50 cm above the ground to keep the plant healthy. When the plant sprouts a little, she starts spraying a homemade solution that helps the rose avoid almost all types of pests. "This solution is very simple, just baking soda, soap, cooking oil, spray evenly throughout the garden, once every 10 days," she said.

Roses are a variety that requires a lot of nutrients. In addition to cow manure, chicken manure is applied once in late fall, when the plants begin to sprout and grow in early spring, she will apply a batch of fertilizer specifically for roses. After that, she will water with fish fertilizer once every one to two months on average, and at the same time, she will install an automatic watering system to help the water penetrate deeply and save money.

"The secret to having a flower garden full of flowers blooming at the same time is pruning. I cut right above the five-leaf bud, not the three-leaf bud, which will help the flowers bloom again," said Ms. Giang.

Ms. Giang said that every day she spends time taking care of her plants and promptly detecting and preventing pests from developing.

"Every time he comes back from a business trip, my husband always helps me renovate the garden, doing all the heavy work like digging the ground to build a fish pond, building trellises, paving paths, or pruning climbing rose trellises," she said.

Ms. Giang never thought that gardening and growing flowers could be so good for her health.

"Before, I had absolutely no love for gardening, I just liked to 'watch flowers while riding a horse'. But since I saw roses, I've become addicted to plants and gardening," she said.

Up to now, in addition to roses, Ms. Giang also grows other types of flowers to make her living space more vibrant, such as lilies, chrysanthemums, lavender, tulips, and fruit trees and vegetables.

Up to now, the garden has nearly 50 rose bushes, but because of their love, the owner continues to add some new climbing rose varieties. The garden has many famous varieties such as the white Iceberg rose bush; three lines of white, pink and red Eden; New Dawn climbing rose, Ebb Tide wine purple rose or the noble rose Princess Alexandra of Kent.

Pictured is the famous climbing rose Arborose Jasmina by German breeder Kordes, with heavy clusters, small flowers with many petals and soft as velvet.

For Ms. Giang, roses are not only for viewing but also used as food or beauty products. Every year when the season comes, she will pick the flowers, dry them to make tea, candy and soak them in skin care oil to use and give to relatives and friends.

The garden is a spiritual medicine that brings a sense of peace. When gardening, connecting with the land, plants, birds, caterpillars, and being immersed in nature makes her feel life is lighter, reducing the need to look outside to seek happiness and naturally turning inward to contemplate herself.

"There were some wounds in my previous life that I didn't know how to heal. Thanks to the garden, I was revived. I just had to choose a corner of the garden, sit down, take a deep breath, and all my worries and troubles would be carried away by the wind," she said.

In recent years, the garden has also become a place for Ms. Giang to entertain friends and enjoy tea. Right when the flowers are blooming brilliantly this summer, the garden became the place to hold a wedding anniversary party for her friend. That day, friends from many places gathered, took pictures, chatted, and ate in a space filled with the scent of flowers, making the party a memorable one.

"Everyone has two-tone hair, but in that romantic space, everyone feels young again," Ms. Giang shared.

Phan Duong Photo: Character provided

Vnexpress.net