These days, Huong Tra Village in Hoa Huong Ward of Tam Ky Town is filled with the yellow color of blooming legume flowers.
Unlike the legume tree in the north, the ones in the village sprout yellow flowers, not white.
Every year in April, the flowers bloom in clusters and have a mild fragrance. Huong Tra Village has about 221 households growing legume trees.
Nguyen Duc, a 67-year-old villager, said: "Some trees are over 100 years old, some have been there for decades. Compared to other trees, legume trees have a wider canopy and better resistance to storms."
Nguyen Thi Canh, 82, stands next to the 100-year-old legume tree planted by her dad.
She said in the past, Huong Tra Village used to be a sandbank, surrounded by rivers. Later, locals built a dike to prevent floods from entering the village. To protect the dike, they planted legume trees to avoid landslides.
Under a wide canopy, one resident has opened a shop.
"Recently, many visitors came to the village, especially when legume flowers bloom. It’s like a festival here," said Lan, owner of the shop.
A legume tree with a height of 20 meters stands beside the road.
The trunk of an old legume tree usually has many types of plants attached to it and is covered with moss.
In recent years, many people have wanted to buy them to use as ornamental trees though they are not for sale.
A village road lined with legume trees.
According to locals, legume trees are easy to plant - just cut a branch and place it in the soil.
Legume trees are planted surrounding the Huong Tra Village communal house. The house was built 250 years ago and has been restored after suffering significant deterioration.
Since 2017, Tam Ky Town authorities have chosen Huong Tra Village as host of the flower season festival that attracts thousands of visitors.
Ho Minh Son, chairman of Hoa Huong Ward, said the authorities have a plan to preserve and raise the number of legume trees.
"The ward is concentrating resources on developing Huong Tra Village into a community-based eco-tourism hub, creating an attraction for tourists in the future,” Son said.
