With only
less than three weeks to go to the Tet holiday, gardeners in Ha Noi's Nhat Tan
and Phu Thuong flower villages are doing the final pruning on their peach
blossom trees as this year's favourable weather conditions have ensured
blossoms at just the right time.
"Theweather so far this year has been much better than last year, more humid,slightly more rain and less sunshine," said 55-year-old Do Thi Mai, whohas been growing peach blossom trees in Phu Thuong Village, Tay Ho District for the past 15years.
Phu Thuongis just one of the capital's flower villages that has been affected byurbanisation and the construction of new villas and urban areas. Years ago,there were thousands of households growing peach blossom trees, according tomany elders. Now, that number has dwindled significantly.
Despite thechanges, there are still households that depend on growing peach blossom treesfor their entire year's income, such as Mai whose garden covers more than 2,000square meters.
At thistime last year, her flowers did not fully blossom even as Tet was approachingdue to the colder weather, she says, but this year's weather is facilitating"the right amount" of blossoms.
InNovember, the gardeners started pruning their trees to encourage more buds.From now until tree sales begin, which is usually after December 15 on thelunar calendar, they also cut out withered early blossoms to spur fresh growth.
Mostbelieve prices could be higher than last year due to rising input costs and thehigher salaries for temporary labourers. However, while most gardeners areforecasting a booming season, they also said that it could be much harder to selland rent out trees that fall in the higher price range.
Nguyen VanDuong, another grower in Phu Thuong Village,expects prices to increase by about 5-10 per cent over last year. "Theflowers this year are definitely better looking," he says. "Since theprices for everything is increasing, we think the price for peach blossom treeswill also increase but not by too much."
In Nhat Tan Village, Nguyen VanChien's garden boasts thousands of peach blossom trees, some of which have beengrowing for nearly a dozen years.
"Thiskind of cold weather, 14-18 degrees Celsius, is perfect. The flowers willmaintain their deep pink colour. Without the cold weather, the colour of theflowers could turn insipid due to greater exposure to the sunshine," Chiensays.
He sayseven with higher input costs, the prices of most trees in his garden would bein the VND7-9 million (US$330-430) range, with the highest coming in at aroundVND14 million ($670).
Nguyen QuocHoa, another Nhat Tan tree farmer, also predicts an increase in prices. Hisclientele is primarily made up of long-time customers. Hoa notes that forfarmers in the business, it is not necessary to sell their entire crop sincethey would keep some roots to grow new trees which would be ready to sell orrent out in another two or three years.
"Twoyears ago, the period leading up to Tet was as hot as summer and last year itwas quite cold, which prevented the flowers from blooming," he says."With this weather and the longer Tet holiday, we're expecting a greatseason."
