Purchasing flowers to adorn homes during the Lunar New Year festival (Tet) has become a cherished cultural tradition among Vietnamese people.
While traditional spring blooms were once the most popular choice, it have witnessed a surge in demand for wax flower and pigeon orchid at Ho Chi Minh City's Tet flower markets in recent years. An owner of Thanh Tam flower shop said that he had imported flowers to serve the needs of the Tet holiday for sale 1 month ago. Currently, the price of flowers for Tet is still the same as last year. Flower varieties are displayed in large quantities.
Pots of Dien grapefruit with shiny yellow color have been exhibited along Vo Nguyen Giap Street in Thu Duc City’s Thao Dien Ward. Moreover, Dien grapefruit is imported by gardeners from the North, mainly Hanoi and Hung Yen with the price of VND3.5 million (US$138) a small tree and VND10 million each large tree. Owners of pricot blossom gardens have also started displaying and selling along Pham Van Dong Avenue, through Hiep Binh Chanh Ward in Thu Duc City.
Ornamental plants from the Central and Southwestern regions are continuing to flow into Ho Chi Minh City, but buyers seem to be sparser than in previous years. In many places, flowers are sold on small roads, at intersections, at parks at cheap prices, thus many people decided to buy on their roads instead of going to the flower market like previous years.
Le Ngoc Kieu who was renting land to grow sunflowers in Thoi An Ward of District 12 is worried that if this flower cannot be sold before Tet, it will have to be thrown away, but currently she has received few orders while not many people buy the flowers.
This year, a noticeable shift has emerged in the Tet flower market as more people choose to rent ornamental flowers and plants rather than purchasing them outright. The trend reflects changing consumer preferences, offering a more economical and sustainable option for decorating homes during the festive season.
Many gardeners said that unlike previous years, when people buy flowers and ornamental plants for Tet, most of them now rent. The most typical is apricot blossom. Apricot trees with a height of 1-2m which are 5-10 years old are rented for VND4 million-VND7 million.
Plus, some offices also prefer to rent ornamental flower for Tet. Some banks have rented apricot trees with a height of 2-3m (10-30 years old) for VND10 million- VND25 million to decorate their headquarters.
Mr. Huu Le, owner of Dai Phu Landscape Company in Thu Duc City, specializing in renting apricot trees to decorate company lobbies, buildings, restaurants, hotels, shared that in the coming days, when companies finish their year-end parties, they will rent yellow apricot trees for display.
According to Mr. Huu Le, the market for renting apricot trees for Tet is popular. Many apricot gardeners in Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, and Dong Nai also pay attention to the market for renting apricot trees instead of selling them.
