The main flowers supplied for Tet in the largest flower village in Nam Dinh province are chrysanthemums, gladiolus and roses. Mr. Pham Duy Mich’s family (Hong Ha flower village, My Tan commune, Nam Dinh city) has 5 sao of chrysanthemums, but 1 sao had to be cut down because they bloomed early.
Flower growers often divide the harvest into 3 seasons: early blooming flowers will be cut and sold from the beginning of December or New Year; the type with large buds will be harvested for the full moon of December and the Kitchen Gods' Day; the type with new buds will be sold during Lunar New Year.
Looking at the flower beds that had just been cut, Mr. Mich could not smile: "This year's damage to our flower village is too great. After the flood, all the capital I had, I used to plant flower seeds in time for Tet. This time, the weather is warm and sunny, the flowers have bloomed before they can be sold for Tet. On December 23rd, any family that can salvage the sale, the price is not high. Working hard all season like my family, we still do not have enough money to buy seeds, this year we consider it "lost Tet".
In the same situation as Mr. Mich's house, Mrs. Dang Thi Hang's chrysanthemum garden (Hong Ha flower village, My Tan commune, Nam Dinh city) is also blooming. Mrs. Hang takes advantage of the opportunity to cover the buds with flower bags so that the flowers bloom slowly.
"I use flower nets to cover the flower buds, trying to save the flowers to sell during Tet. A complete net bag costs about 300 VND/bag, only when the flower price is a little higher will we have the money. Now, a bunch of 50 chrysanthemums, traders only buy for about 30,000 VND/bunch, before it was 100,000 VND/bunch, only diamond chrysanthemums have stable prices. Other chrysanthemum gardens bloom too much and no one buys them," said Ms. Hang.
For flower growers, it takes about 4 months to harvest a flower crop, costing a lot of effort and money. This year, after the damage caused by storms and floods, My Tan residents are only looking forward to the Tet flower crop to have more income, but in reality, it is making flower growers worried when the flowers bloom before the season.
