Mr. Vu Thanh Hung’s abundant peach trees
For the Lunar New Year of the Horse 2024, peaches are still the most expensive type of peach. The shortest peach trees, less than 1m tall, are the cheapest at less than 10 million VND per tree, while the highest price is over 100 million VND per tree.
Mr. Bui Van Sang, owner of the Peach Valley (Ward 4, Dalat City, Lam Dong Province), said that besides hundreds of peach trees, peach blossoms, and willow peach trees, there are dozens of withered peach trees in Dalat and Nhat Tan, including trees valued at over 100 million VND.
Normally, Dalat’s withered peach trees do not bloom during the Lunar New Year but rather on the 15th day of the first lunar month, when the weather is much warmer. Therefore, gardeners have come up with various measures to control the blooming of the trees during the Tet holiday. In recent years, Dalat gardeners have been successful in this endeavor.
Mr. Bui Van Sang’s withered peach tree in Dalat
However, due to the lunar 2nd month in 2023, the Lunar New Year 2024 came one month late, and the unusual warm weather in the last months of the year stimulated the early blooming of the peach trees. As a result, many withered peach trees bloomed weeks before Tet and have now shed all their flowers, entering the fruit-bearing stage.
Mr. Vu Thanh Hung (nearly 70 years old, resident of Ward 2, Dalat City) said that Vietnam has two unique species of withered peach trees: Dalat’s withered peach and Nhat Tan’s withered peach. Both of these species have been successfully grown in Dalat City.
Since 1975, Mr. Nguyen Van Hien has pioneered the introduction of some Nhat Tan peach varieties (emperor peach) to Dalat and shared them with other artists to cultivate them.
The emperor peach variety has gradually adapted to the climate and soil of the highland region. It blooms with double petals, deep red color, smaller petals compared to Dalat peach, and the tree trunk has many dark brown scar scales. Although it has been planted over 55 years ago, it is only as tall as regular peach trees over 1-year-old.
Well-developed Nhat Tan withered peach trees in Dalat
Before that, starting from 1968, Mr. Hung’s father, Mr. Vu Huu Suu, selected and created new breeds from mutated peach trees to produce today’s Dalat withered peach. This type of peach is very short, although it is over 55 years old, its height is only around 70cm, and it grows about 3cm taller each year.
Dalat’s withered peach has a naturally beautiful shape, with irregular flowers and fruit. Each flower has 5 thin, pale pink petals, bright yellow stamens, and a light fragrance. The branches are covered by layers of unique dragon scales.
Caring for Dalat’s withered peach trees
While Nhat Tan’s withered peach trees produce small fruit, the size of Dalat’s withered peach fruit is quite large. They usually bear fruit in clusters on the branches, with a cluster containing up to 19 fruit, resembling regular peaches. By April and May, the fruit ripens and has a rich, delicious flavor.
Due to the beautiful appearance of the tree, flowers, and fruit, Dalat’s withered peach trees are valued for decoration twice a year: when the trees bloom during Tet and when they bear fruit in the following months.
Dalat’s withered peach trees produce beautiful fruit
In Vietnam, only two places have extensive cultivation of withered peach trees: Hanoi and Dalat. Some other localities also cultivate this type of peach, but the quantity is very small due to the unsuitable climate for the trees to grow.
