We arrived in the highland city on a sunny and dry day. Along the asphalted road winding around the sloppy hill to Van Thanh village are semi-detached houses and a smattering of luxury villas built in the middle of flowerbeds of roses.

We dropped in at house No75A where a truck was loaded with fresh flowers.

“We pick up and transport flowers from gardens to homes where we sort out small ones for local sales and big ones for sales in neighbouring localities such as Qui Nhon, Tuy Hoa and Nha Trang,” said house owner Nguyen Thi Tuyet. “To prepare for International Women’s Day (March 8), we have planned in advance to meet customer demand. Over the past few days, we have cancelled lots of orders because we do not have adequate flowers for supply.”

Next to the Tuyet’s is Trung Dung florist wholesale agent. We noticed that wholesaler Nguyen Thi Bich Dung was busy answering phone calls from dealers. She said tens of thousands of roses are transported from her agent to localities across the country at high prices on big celebrations such as Valentine Day (February 14) and International Women’s Day (March 8).

“Dealers from Hanoi often place orders and come here earlier than those from Saigon and Nha Trang city,” said Dung. “They select all the varieties such as carnations, Bibis, Salems and roses of different colours. When the celebration draws near, prices vary day by day…… All the villagers here grow roses, but there are only three or four wholesalers like me.”

It is said that the village used to grow vegetables only. In the late 1950s, several farmers brought home and planted some varieties of roses on a trial basis. Surprisingly this species of flower rapidly adapted to the climate and soil conditions in the Central Highlands, and since then local farmers have shifted to planting roses. Time flies and they have crossbred new varieties, using advanced technology from the Netherlands, Taiwan and Japan. Currently, more than 150ha of flowers, with two thirds dedicated to roses, are grown in the greenhouse equipped with automatic lighting and watering systems.

Flower farming has been handed down from generation to generation. Young farmers are now aware of the importance of maintaining and developing this practice.

“Our family has developed this rose garden for seven years and we have gained experience year by year. This farming practice requires perseverance,” said Nguyen Van Chinh, another farmer in Van Thanh village. “Rose prices have kept increasing since the traditional lunar New Year (Tet) festival. As far as I know, Hanoi will be running short of roses because of the cold weather this year. Therefore I have been trying to meet large orders of roses for Valentine’s Day (February 14) and International Women’s Day (March 8).”

Chairman of the Ward No5 Farmers Association Nguyen Duc Hoc told us, “In many places it will be a success story if farmers earn VND50 million/ha. Here in Van Thanh, many farmers get between VND300-500 million/ha or even VND700-800 million/ha. Many of them have built villas and bought cars.”

According to Mr Hoa, planting roses by applying high technology in Van Thanh is the most efficient business model in Da Lat. Advanced technology can help flowers bloom on the right day and be kept longer. Therefore, flower prices there are higher than in other places.

Women hold half the sky. Besides gifts from their men, flowers are indispensable to them on International Women’s Day. Farmers in Van Thanh flower village are very proud because their flowers are a spiritually invaluable gift to women on March 8.