During the days ahead of the lunar New Year (Tet) which this year falls on January 31, Sa Dec horticulture village in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap is resplendent with a wide variety of flowers in full bloom.

Located 4 km from Sa Dec town, Sa Dec horticulture village, the largest supplier of flowers in the southwestern region, is colorful with large fields of flowers. Flowers in Sa Dec are not planted in beds but on trellises with canals running under them. Growers have to row a boat to tend and harvest the flowers, according to radio The Voice of Vietnam (VOV).

Prior to the traditional lunar New Year, flower gardens in Sa Dec are full of marigolds, chrysanthemums and roses of all kinds. There are also exotic flowers like lisianthus, Salvia and petunia. In Tan Khanh Dong commune, chrysanthemums cover ​​25 hectares with nearly 200,000 baskets planted in Khanh Nghia, Khanh Nhon and Dong Hue hamlets. The increasing popularity of chrysanthemums has improved the incomes of local growers.

“At this time of the year, we only need to water the flowers. The weather now is favourable for growing chrysanthemums. This year we have received more orders for chrysanthemums because there are more Spring festivals,” aIS Nguyen Thi Hang, a grower in Sa Dec.

At any time of the year, the village is flowery and fragrant. Flowers are everywhere: dahlias, hydrangeas, chrysanthemums ... , but roses of different kinds are the most popular. As many as 50 species of roses including red roses, Granda roses, Cleopatra roses, and Elizabeth roses are grown in the village.

According to local growers, they still grow traditional flowers like chrysanthemums and roses and their business is quite good this year as the demand is increasing.

Horticulture has improved the incomes of more than a thousand families in the village. Chrysanthemum, cockscombs and lotuses are most popular during Tet, said Tran Thi Hue, a grower, adding that a hectare of flowers brings in at least 100 million VND (4,700 USD).

"We have received orders from Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and many other cities. This business is profitable, but also hard. To meet the Tet demand, we have to work constantly from dusk to dawn," she said.

A few weeks prior to Tet, the village is already in full swing. Every day, it is crowded with trucks queuing for flowers and plants. Sa Dec flowers are helping local people increase their incomes. Dong Thap province aims to develop Sa Dec into a flower city in the future.

This village attracts many tourists, especially on the occasion of Tet who come to enjoy the fresh air, the fragrance and the colorful activity of harvesting flowers.-VNA