A long-standing flower city in a Mekong Delta province is aspiring to become one of the delta region’s spearhead tourist cities and a major flower exporter.

A 400-hectare flower growing area in Dong Thap Province’s Sa Dec City, some 120 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City, has established itself as the Mekong Delta’s prominent flower garden over the past century.

The area was acknowledged as one of Vietnam’s favorite flower gardens last year by the Vietnam Book of Records, which is a local organization recognizing extraordinary feats, events and places within the Southeast Asian country.

Unlike several other flower cities nationwide, Sa Dec’s fields yield flowers all year round.

Several hundred breeds of flowers bloom throughout the city, particularly prior to Tet, creating stunning spectacles for visitors.

Tet is a Vietnamese term referring to the Lunar New Year which falls on February 19 this year. Flowers and fruits are traditionally used for decorations during the occasion whose festive preparations usually begin around one week before the D-Day and celebratory atmosphere lingers another week after that. Gorgeous flowers are omnipresent along highways, paths, in flooded fields, and even around the Sa Dec Industrial Zone.

Sa Dec Flower Village's flowers are seen in this 2014 Tuoi Tre file photo.

In 1867, Sa Dec County was formed. Various breeds of flowers from France and other countries gradually made their way there, transforming it into “Le Jardin de la Cochinchine” (The Garden of Southern Vietnam).

In recent years, authorities and local farmers have looked far beyond that and aim to tap into the area’s huge potential.

The Sa Dec flower growing area is currently home to over 2,000 flower farming households and more than 2,500 varieties, according to the People’s Committee of Sa Dec City.

It is believed that around two thirds of the local population knows how to grow flowers and “bonsai,” which are miniaturized forms of trees and bushes created by rigorous pruning of roots and branches.

The city’s agricultural revenues reached over VND550 billion (US$25.63 million) last year, in which earnings from the sale of flowers and ornamental plants made up the majority, the committee said.

Sa Dec Flower Village's farmers work on their flower farms in this 2014 Tuoi Tre file photo.

Sa Dec farmers have supplied their produce to other provinces across the country, including the Tet  flower street in downtown Ho Chi Minh City, as well as Laos and Cambodia.

Huynh Tri Cuong, the committee’s vice chair, said the province targets to turn Sa Dec into a flower hub, in which farmers will specialize in and get rich on flowers and ornamental plants.

“Sa Dec aspires to become a satellite of the global flower market in the years to come,” he stressed.

Adopting Dutch flower farming technology

The Sa Dec People’s Committee has inked an agreement with the Vietnam International Trade Center in the Netherlands on agricultural cooperation, Cuong said.

Under the agreement, the Netherlands will build a research zone at the provincial Hi-Tech Agricultural Application Center in Sa Dec and offer training to local agricultural staff and farmers.

The European country, known for its gorgeous flower fields, is also expected to supply Sa Dec with seeds of high-quality flower varieties, techniques in various phases including germination, preservation, transport, distribution and consumption of flowers.

Cuong added that provincial authorities plan to cooperate with their Dutch partners to build a flower garden modeled after the Netherlands’ Keukenhof – one of the world’s most beautiful spring gardens, in which more than seven million tulips, daffodils and hyacinths fill over 32 hectares with color and fragrance.

“Sa Dec boasts a 30-hectare flower park, which is spacious enough to be a Keukenhof duplicate. The new garden will be the city’s dominant highlight in the coming years,” he said.

According to Pham Huu Phuoc, director of Dong Thap’s Hi-Tech Agricultural Application Center, the province has sent six local specialists to the Netherlands for training.

Dutch experts are also set to offer training courses to local farmers.

Phuoc expressed his hope that the collaboration would prove fruitful and considerably boost the city’s agricultural export values and improve farmers’ lives.

A farmer is seen tending to her flowers near Sa Nhien-Cai Dao Flower Street in Sa Dec. Photo: Tuoi Tre

According to the Sa Dec People’s Committee, some French enterprises have scouted the area and offered to build plants to produce perfume out of the flowers’ fragrance.

To local farmers’ delight, Sa Dec Flower Corp., the city’s first-ever company specializing in trading flowers, was established in early October last year.

Pham Van Ben, its board chair, said his company is stepping up preparations for the export of flowers.

Ben’s thorough research at flower wholesale markets in the Netherlands revealed that “cuc mam xoi” (a variety of chrysanthemum), one of Vietnam’s most common floral adornments, will likely be his company’s first shipment.

“Our chrysanthemums are more gorgeous than those grown in the Netherlands. One of the competitive edges of Sa Dec’s flowers is reasonable prices thanks to low production costs. I think the export prospect is totally within our reach if we properly adopt the technology and expertise from our Dutch partners,” Ben underscored.

The company will also help local farmers market and sell their flowers.

Vo Van Sang, a farmer in Tan Quy Dong Commune, said he and other farmers have pinned all their hopes on the collaboration.

His family has grown flowers for over 30 years, but earns just an average income. There have been times when he considered quitting the familial craft.

Sang hopes the cooperation, export and establishment of the flower city will notably improve their production and income.

Vo Van Sang, a farmer in Sa Dec City's Tan Quy Dong Commune, shares he and other farmers hope the city's collaboration with Dutch partners and the establishment of the flower city will notably improve their flower production and income. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The tourist flower city

In February last year, the Sa Dec People’s Committee started work on the Sa Nhien – Cai Dao flower street, one of the four major steps toward building Sa Dec into a flower city of the Mekong Delta.         

A local official told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper last year that the flower street, located in Tan Quy Dong Commune, measures over 2.3km in length and 7.5m in width.

The project costs some VND15 billion (US$707,550) and is expected to be completed prior to the upcoming Tet holiday.

Unlike flower streets elsewhere which are embellished with tubs of flowers and plants, the Sa Nhien – Cai Dao flower street will be lined with flower fields, gardens and showrooms.

The current street is only 3m wide and has seen serious deterioration.

The city will also arrange flowers in themes so that they will bloom all year round on the street, which is expected to grow into one of the city’s new tourist attractions.

The city is also poised to build Sa Nhien-Mu U-Cai Dao-Ong Thung flower street to enclose the Sa Dec flower growing area.

Tubs of daisies from Sa Dec Flower Village are transported on sampans to Tet markets in this 2014 Tuoi Tre file photo.

In recent years, Sa Dec has drawn a considerable number of domestic and international tourists to its richly colored flower farms and two national relics, including Huynh Thuy Le Old House.

Le, the owner of the house, was the first love of Marguerite Duras, the author of “L'Amant” (The Lover), an internationally famous semi-autobiographical 1984 novel, which details a romance between a teenage French girl and a Chinese-Vietnamese man in Sa Dec in 1929.  

The novel was adapted into a noted eponymous film in 1992.

According to Cuong, vice chair of the Sa Dec People’s Committee, local authorities invited a French company to consult them on the zoning and construction of the city.

The future city is to retain its treasured French-style architectural structures, tap into the lush vegetation and dazzling flower growing sections and be empty of skyscrapers or dense concentration of houses, he noted.

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