Compass Travel Vietnam
Unique Apricot blossom garden with billions of dongs of artisans of the land of Binh Dinh
Having a predestined relationship with the Apricot blossom, artist Do Van Pham owns a billion-dollar bonsai apricot garden.
The monumental new house of Mr. Do Van Pham (66 years old, Nhon Hau commune, An Nhon town, Binh Dinh) is about three kilometers from the national highway. In front of the yard is a ‘terrible’ apricot garden with hundreds of apricots worth billions of VND dong.($1=25,000 VND)
“They used to say I was crazy…”
“This property, children study and have a decent job also thanks to this apricot garden. In the past, the poorest in the village, finding food was also difficult. Now it’s much better. The apricot garden has many trees that have been paid for tens of millions of dong, but I don’t sell it, it’s a memory” – Mr. Pham pointed to the apricot garden in front of the yard and said.
He said, in the past, he did enough jobs to earn money to live, raise children to eat and study. It was very difficult for the family at that time.
At that time, he worked as a watermelon farmer and did many other things, but they were all “broken”. Leaving the Central Highlands with a debt, he returned to An Nhon to continue working as hired workers for some households growing apricots to earn money to take care of his family.
| In order to have a beautiful and poisonous apricot pot, the artisan must work hard to create and take care of it. Photo QN |
He met Sau Su – a famous apricot grower in Hao Duc (Nhon An commune, An Nhon town) at that time. While working for Sau Su, Mr. Pham found that selling apricots was also a good income. Since then, he also wanted to try his hand at mai. Also during this time, he explored the cultivation of ornamental plants, including apricots.
| There are apricot trees that customers pay nearly a hundred million dong, but Mr. Pham does not sell. Photo QN |
“At that time, when I saw them selling a few apricot trees, they had gold thread, very greedy. At that time, I also started planting apricots. The number of seedlings is also from the place of Six Su. But then planted, do not know who to sell to. There was a time when I even went for a walk. At this time, many people also planted apricot trees to sell dragons, so they did not see much success,” Mr. Pham recalls.
Mai Giang Long at that time was market tomorrow, market tomorrow. That is, apricot growers simply bend from the root to the top. For a time, many people planted and sold, so it was difficult to sell. Many sleepless nights, and then he wandered through some apricot orchards to learn how to create a new apricot shape, in the hope of selling for a higher price, and more customers.
“When I planted apricot trees, many people also said that he was “crazy” because he was poor and played with apricots. But the thought I had, so no matter what anyone said against me, I did it. After years of growing and selling apricots in the market, I decided to switch to growing bonsai apricots. Because this type is both my passion for bonsai and has higher economic value,” Pham said.
That’s what he thought, that was his plan, but when he started implementing it, he failed many times. Recalling that time, he said: It is easy to grow apricots in the market, but in order to create a bonsai tree with a satisfactory shape, you have to go through a whole process. First, you have to choose the right apricot roots to see, then take care and persevere in shaping after nearly a dozen years to get a beautiful pot of apricots.
There’s even an establishment from apricot bonsai
Currently, after more than 30 years of growing apricot bonsai, Mr. Pham owns a huge bonsai apricot garden with hundreds of beautiful poses.
As if we were afraid we wouldn’t believe it, he took us to the garden and pointed out the apricot trees that are decades old, which he treasures very much. Among them, there are pots of apricot trees, which have been paid by customers for nearly 100 million, but he has not yet sold them.
Pointing to a pot of precious apricots in the garden, Mr. Pham said that this is a pot of apricots in the shape of a unicorn with an age of 38 years. He considers this one of the few apricot trees in the garden.
“There are many people who have paid nearly 80 million dong but I have not sold it. Because if I sell it, I feel lacking, can’t stand it. It has been with me since the early days, now I just need to see it every morning, “- Mr. Pham laughed.
According to this artist’s finger, dozens of apricot trees with more than 30 years of age with many unique poses such as octopus, snail, and unicorn gradually appear behind the canopy. According to him, to create the shape of a pot of apricots like that, he had to do a lot of research, and he had to persevere in using little by little.
“Now the demand of customers is very high, they not only play apricots, but also have to be unique and strange apricots. Many people are willing to spend a large amount of money, as long as they see a satisfactory pot of apricots. So the more I have to invest in that, shape to meet the needs of customers. But to be like that, apricot growers must have a keen eye and must be able to create poisonous apricot shapes “- Mr. Pham shared.
Prominent in his billion-dollar apricot garden are two apricot trees placed on both sides in front of the house. He said, recently someone paid him 140 million VND for this pair of five blessings, but he did not agree to sell it because…sorry. According to him, many people want to buy these two pots of apricot because the shape of the tree means fortune.
Last year, his family earned 500 million from growing apricot bonsai. In previous years, his family’s annual income from apricots was also several hundred million dong. “Having a property like today, it all comes from tomorrow. Perhaps this is also a predestined relationship with tomorrow, but before, I did not dare to think that it would be like today, “- Mr. Pham confided.
“Rich alone is not rich, but many rich people can be called rich. I also want to help many people if they want to switch to growing apricot trees to have a better income. Because, more or less a year, the income of hundreds of millions is little, “- Mr. Pham said.
Mr. Do Van Pham is one of the few apricot growers in Nhon Hau commune who is a member of the Vietnam Association of Ornamental Creatures. In addition to apricot bonsai, Mr. Pham also creates beautiful bonsai with many other ornamental plants including star fruit, sesame buds, and ornamental lemons…
Unique Apricot blossom garden with billions of dongs of artisans of the land of Binh Dinh
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