In March, when the sweet cold of spring begins to fade, Hanoi welcomes a very unique flower season. Not as brilliant as peach blossoms, not as passionate as jade orchids, grapefruit flowers enter the streets with a pure, gentle fragrance, enough to slow down the steps of passersby.
For Hanoians, grapefruit flowers are not just a seasonal flower. It is also a part of lifestyle, a part of memory, associated with the ancestral altar, with a cup of incense tea, with a bowl of arrowroot powder with a faint fragrance, or simply a plate of flowers placed in the room to keep the feeling of comfort and cleanliness for the house.
Having been attached to grapefruit flower stalls on the street for many years, Ms. Do Thi Le, 75 years old, said that after Tet, grapefruit flowers begin to enter the season. According to her, the peak selling time usually lasts from after the 6th day of Tet to the end of the full moon of the first lunar month, when many families buy flowers to replace altars, go to pagodas or plant indoors.
Ms. Le shared: "Grapefruit flowers symbolize spring, loved by many Hanoians for their light fragrance and simple, delicate beauty.
Grapefruit flowers are also present in many familiar activities of the people of the Capital. Some people buy flowers to display on plates to play with, some people use them to cook sticky rice, wash their hair... Petals are separated and can also be marinated with tea or incubated with tapioca starch to increase the cool scent. From a spring flower, grapefruit flowers enter life in a very natural way.
As the person who continues her family's flower selling profession, Ms. Pham Thi Nhung, 52 years old, said that she has only been selling for about 3 years, but this profession has followed her mother for many decades.
Ms. Nhung believes that what makes the unique value of grapefruit flowers lies not only in the fragrance, but also in the "seasonal food" culture of the ancients.
Using grapefruit flowers to offer incense, marinate tea or marinate food is a cultural feature of old Hanoi people, showing respect for seasonal fragrant flowers," Ms. Nhung said.
Perhaps because of that, March grapefruit flowers have never been just a flower that blooms in season. In that faint fragrance is memory, is family tradition, is the way old Hanoians lived slowly, lived carefully and knew how to cherish beauty from the smallest things. In the midst of many changes, the grapefruit flower season returns as a reminder that Hanoi still has its own unique elegance, silently but persistently over the years.
