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View Full Version : The Opulence of Flowers in Vietnam is breathtaking.


Olafhenny
03-13-2011, 10:52 PM
The pictures below show the lavishness of the displays in the urban flower shops. You have to look
closely to pick out the individual artful arrangements, which get lost in the wealth of these displays:

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=40763&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=40763&ppuser=7269)


http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=40762&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=40762&ppuser=7269)


The next shot shows a section of one of those ubiquitous roadside marketing offers, this one for
bonsai type plants.

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=40766&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=40766&ppuser=7269)


The next two photos show a couple of individual displays in hotels, where we stayed:

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=40764&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=40764&ppuser=7269)

All my life long I have criticized the pressing of flowers into structural displays,
but here it is done 'in tune' with nature, rather than subduing it.


http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=40765&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=40765&ppuser=7269)

And the last two give you a glimpse of the macro landscaping efforts in such hotels and restaurants:

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=40767&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=40767&ppuser=7269)


http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=40768&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=40768&ppuser=7269)

When I see all this, I cannot help but feel very ignorant and incompetent as a "gardener".

Stay tuned, more to come
Olaf

Yug
03-15-2011, 01:59 AM
Those don't look any different than the ones we have in Hawaii.

The Hollyberry Lady
03-15-2011, 02:14 AM
They're just gorgeous!!! :08:



: )

Olafhenny
03-15-2011, 02:56 AM
Those don't look any different than the ones we have in Hawaii.

You are lucky then.

Yug
03-16-2011, 12:15 AM
You are lucky then.

Yeah, they tell me that, but luck is more expensive, too; gas, food, housing, etc. The bucks just don't go anywhere near as far as the rest of the U.S. Now, I hear on the radio that we are paying more for gasoline than the rest of the U.S. (*sigh*) I guess being lucky isn't everything...

Olafhenny
03-16-2011, 11:00 PM
Yeah, they tell me that, but luck is more expensive, too; gas, food, housing, etc. The bucks just don't go anywhere near as far as the rest of the U.S. Now, I hear on the radio that we are paying more for gasoline than the rest of the U.S. (*sigh*) I guess being lucky isn't everything...

I would cry for you, if you were really as tough off, as you seem to think you are. Rise in gasoline and food prices is global, and as such even affects paradise. Gasoline here is $1.27/litre or at your measures $4.78/gal (CAD) or in US Dollars $4.87. And if you think that that is bad, ask somebody from Europe!
Best,
Olaf

gander54
03-16-2011, 11:23 PM
very Nice pics I wish I could have been there to see them too. They are lots better than what we have right now in Oklahoma.

Chance1945
01-06-2012, 07:48 PM
I feel overwhelmed from your photographs. Can't imagine what I would feel up close and personal. Thanks especially for the photos of the desert rose. I'm growing several hundred of them now so I really appreciate that one photo. Also, I'm into Thai caladiums. Notice when you go back to Vietnam if you see any different caladiums.

How I would love to visit there!

Olafhenny
01-06-2012, 11:22 PM
I feel overwhelmed from your photographs. Can't imagine what I would feel up close and personal. Thanks
especially for the photos of the desert rose. I'm growing several hundred of them now so I really appreciate that one photo. Also, I'm into
Thai caladiums. Notice when you go back to Vietnam if you see any different caladiums.

How I would love to visit there!

Thank you, Terry, I did not know what it was. I just walked by some street-side plant shop and snapped
the picture. There was of course nobody to explain the plants to me.

Now I know from you that it was a Adenium Obesum.
Here are a couple more:


http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=47537 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=47537&ppuser=7269)

This one is not quite so obese, but I believe it is still young :)



http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=47541 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=47541&ppuser=7269)

Here is another one, I believe, although it has no flowers



http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=47540 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=47540&ppuser=7269)

In the court yard of a Buddhist temple on Tet Eve; - you may want to pick it out yourselves



http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=47538 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=47538&ppuser=7269)

During Tet these little orange trees are everywhere, here in the entrance to a fabric store;
symbolizing fruitfulness (fertility)?, a new beginning?



http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=47544 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=47544&ppuser=7269)

In Hoi Anh Tet (Vietnamese New Year) is celebrated with lots of light floating on the river. The big white
thing is a cat, ringing in the Year of the Cat.



http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=47545 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=47545&ppuser=7269)

Individuals float little lanterns down the river (difficult to catch clearly, because they are moving
and exposure times are long in the dark)



http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=47542 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=47542&ppuser=7269)

Artistic displays are plentiful, like this large (~1m dia) lantern



http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=47543 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=47543&ppuser=7269)

This is a look inside it

Chance1945
01-07-2012, 01:41 AM
The first photo reminds me of a windswept pine on the beach in Monterey, Calif. I believe the second phot is of a tree.

Notice the pots. It's all a work of art. A work of love.

Our culture seems to staid, so stoic, so plain vanilla when compared to some others.

Thanks for the show. Hope there's more to come.

palmtree
01-07-2012, 06:29 PM
Wow, those are all great pics! The attention to detail is very impressive. Thanks for sharing!

Olafhenny
01-07-2012, 10:32 PM
I cannot help comparing Vietnam to Mexico, which is much more wealthy.

After my first visit there I coined the phrase: "In Mexico everything is a little bit broke". The overall view
appears to be, that "if it holds together and looks nice, it is okay". My opinion on that has not really
changed during the next dozen or so visits there, though I have to qualify, that my experience is
entirely limited to the Mexican west coast. It may be different elsewhere int the country.

Vietnam, a much poorer country (money-wise) had a horrific start after finally getting rid of centuries
of foreign domination (in sequence: French,- Japanese,- British,- French,- American) it was finally left
with a country the central 1/3rd was completely defoliated, the 2000 km north - south stretch seemingly
dissected every 10 km or so by a west to east river, with practically all bridges bombed to smithereens.
The country had a huge problem. That is only compounded by the understandably xenophobic laws
enacted by the new government and the fact, that it is also quite totalitarien. Both are a deterrent to
badly needed foreign investment.

But the huge advantage this country has is a deep appreciation for quality. No matter how poor the
people are, everything they build is made to last and most of it will not have to be replaced within a
lifetime. In the long run that will give them "a foot up".

I believe, that a big part of the appreciation these photos receive is based on that solidity and
excellence in workmanship they reflect

Olafhenny
01-16-2012, 05:42 AM
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=47538 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=47538&ppuser=7269)

During Tet these little orange trees are everywhere, here in the entrance to a fabric store;
symbolizing fruitfulness (fertility)?, a new beginning?

I have now learned, that these "little orange trees" are actually kumquat trees.

I still have not figured out, what they signify. Most people in the tourist related businesses speak a
few words of English, enough do do their job, but t i9s hard to find somebody, who is fluent
enough to explain something sophisticated. But there is still more than a month to go until Tet. I am
sure, Ill be able to find out by then. :)