In front of the My Dinh Stadium in Nam Tu Liem District is a makeshift flower shop that usually pops up around Lunar New Year (Tet), selling mostly yellow boat and moth orchids and attracting visitors with exquisite flower pots. The Lunar New Year, Vietnam's biggest holiday, peaks on Feb. 10 this year.
This year it is selling a magnificent flower pot it calls “Nine Dragons Chasing the Pearl.”
The pot has moth orchids in different shades arranged in nine layers, symbolizing good fortune and prosperity for the new year.
The 2,686 orchid stems obtained from Da Lat City were trimmed and arranged by four master florists over three days.
The flower pot, weighing over one ton, was designed and created in four months in Thai Binh Province.
“This year is the year of the dragon, so I wanted to make a one-of-a-kind product with the image of dragons,” Ngo Van Nghiep, the owner of the shop, said.
“I happened to come across a YouTube video of an artist creating a dragon sculpture, and I contacted and commissioned him to make the pot.”
The exterior features nine swirling dragons with a circular gem, the titular “pearl,” in the center, representing auspiciousness, opulence and luck.
Asked about the orchid pot’s high price, Nghiep said it is a unique work of art that took months to create.
No one has expressed interest in buying it yet, and he would give it away if he could not sell it before Tet, he said.
The shop also sells a wide range of orchids costing millions to tens of millions of dong (VND1 million = $40.73).
The average price of a moth orchid this year is VND250,000-300,000 apiece. But the prices can vary greatly depending on the species, size, number of stems, rarity, and beauty.
Moth orchid stems usually have a vibrant green hue and curved shape, making them more eye-catching and easier to bend for decorating purposes.
The flower is usually perfectly symmetrical with large beautiful petals, symbolizing affluence, fortune and love, according to feng shui principles.
To create a beautiful moth orchid arrangement, a florist has to consider several factors when picking flowers to ensure uniformity in shape, size and color.
To prevent their wilting, water should be sprayed on the plant’s roots instead of directly on the flowers, and the plant must be kept in a place with a temperature of 20-25°C and a humidity of 60-80%.
Florists need to be highly skilled in designing, trimming and arranging to make stunning flower pots.
During the Tet holidays the shop has to hire at least 20 employees for designing, selling, shipping, and accounting.
