Ho Chi Minh City’s annual flower show opened Saturday, a week before the Lunar New Year festival, with prices slightly up because of the much-documented bad weather this year.

But people are visiting the show at September 23 Park in Phu My Hung and other smaller shows more to see and take pictures rather than buy.

Flower sellers said three or four days before Tet next Saturday would see the most sales.

Prices are around 20 percent higher this year after unseasonable climate and rains two months ago caused flowers to blossom earlier than normal.

Daisy, a popular flower present in every house during Tet, costs VND30,000 ($2) to VND100,000.

Other favorites like apricots, peaches, and orchids are more expensive.

The price of a small apricot tree ranges from VND120,000-800,000 ($7.5 – $50), medium trees cost around VND2.5 million, but others cost dozens of millions of dong.

Large trees measuring 10cm around and with nice shapes cost as much as VND70 million ($4,400).

A pot of orchid with 10 flowers costs over a million dong.

source :www.thanhniennews.com