Vietnam Town

Ochna blossoms, which southern Vietnamese believe bring good luck, were showcased on the Pham Ngu Lao Street-side of downtown September 23 Park, HCMC’s prime flower market.

Ochna trees from Vietnam’s west-ern and southern provinces are selling for an average of VND150,000 to VND500,000 (US$9 to $31) for small pots and VND1 million to VND3 mil-lion ($63 to $188) for large pots.

Sellers from central Binh Dinh Province, meanwhile, are selling their ochna trees from VND1 million ($63) per tree.

Some farmers who grew ochna for Thu Duc District markets said selling prices had jumped 10 percent, reflecting the increased cost of wages, fertilizer and trans-port.

Because the northern climate was not conducive to growing ochna, a garden owner on Kha Van Can Street in Thu Duc District told Thanh Nien some of his customers had traveled from Hanoi to buy ochna whole-sale.

Beautiful ochna trees with large root systems could be worth up to VND10 million ($625), he added.

Peach blossoms, which flourish in the north, meanwhile, are displayed in the flower market section facing Le Lai Street.

Pham Van Duy said he transported 200 peach trees from Ninh Binh Province to the city, selling two for VND1.2 million ($75) each shortly after the market opened.

Mountainous Da Lat City, well-known for farming flowers, has sent roses, carnations, lilies, daisies and tulips to HCMC.

Le Van Lien, production manager of Da Lat Hasfarm Company, told Thanh Nien the company began preparing flowers for Tet six months ago.

The flower volume had increased 20 percent to 30 percent from last year and prices were about 30 per-cent higher than usual, Lien said.

Beside the September 23 Park with 734 stalls, the city’s two other flower markets are Gia Dinh Park with 221 stalls of flowers and Le Van Tam Park with 92 stalls.

Reported by Mai Vong