Hanoi’s well-to-do seem to think money grows on trees as they splash their greenbacks on ornamental plants in a bid to show off their new found wealth.
An ornamental orchard
Vice Chairman of the Gardening and Ornamental Plants Club in Gia Lam District’s Phu Dong Commune, Hanoi, said, “There are plants going for VND120 billions-VND200 billions. These prices seem crazy because the Vietnamese average income per capita remain quite low. People are spending their newly found wealth on things that they think provide them with status, including winning exorbitantly priced bids for ornamental plants.”
People buy an ornamental plant based on its age, shape, and quality of its wood. However, many customers lack real knowledge about gardening, hiring gardeners to take care for them. An experienced landscape gardener can be paid VND40-70 million (USD1,915-USD3,354) for their work.
The chairman continued, “Nguyen Van Loi has a plant that has received offers of VND4 billion (USD191,660), but he doesn’t want to sell and continues to wait for a higher price.”
This plant is a 50-year-old ficus benjamina tree. However, nobody can really be sure about its real age, even the most experienced gardeners.
Loi shared, “I bought this plant seven years ago for VND40 million (USD1,915). I was offered VND4 billion for it, but the price of ornamental plants never decline. The older the plant is, the more expensive it becomes, so I think the price of VND4 billion isn’t worth it.”
Some experienced customers are very selective
