Ten times out of 10, the place will be Da Lat.

In the last days of the year, Da Lat wears an even more romantic lookthan usual. As the soft, yellow sunlight, the gentle breeze thatsoftens the chilly air and yes, yes, the ubiquitous flowers, as allthese induce a mellowness inside you, you notice that the residentsthemselves are not relaxing.

Indeed, they arebustling about, making hectic, last-minute preparations to make surethat the premier event of the Central Highland resort city, the biennialFlower Festival – the city's pride and joy – is even more spectacularthan the last edition.

The festival kicks off on NewYear's Eve, adding further zest to the proceedings. One can see that thecity is going to be ablaze with colours very soon.

Located on the Lam Vien (Langbian) Plateau (1,500 metres above the sealevel) with the year-round cool and fresh weather, Da Lat keepscollecting titles as though it is its entitlement.

It is the City of Flowers, the City of Pines and the City of Love - andbecause of the mist that covers its valley almost throughout the year,it is also the City of Eternal Spring.

Da Lat's soiland average temperatures of 18 degrees Celcius have been fertile groundfor its flower industry, which grows more than 400 species thatflourish in tropical and temperate climates.

The twisting roads that wind their way through the city's hilly terrain only increase the Da Lat's numerous charms.

The flowers that are the city's crowning glory are not just found ingardens and nurseries, they grow wild on roadsides, in window sills,from cracks in the walls, and every patch of land that is available.

While tulips, dahlias, orchids and chrysanthemums aretypical commercial crops, there are others, like the mai anh dao (Prunuscesacoides), phuong tim (Jacaradanda), yellow mimosa (Silver Wattle)and ban trang (Bauthinia Variegata), that brighten up the city atdifferent times of the year.

Then there are the camtu cau (Hotensia), cuc (daisy), do quyen (Water-rail) and rose,adornments that the city decorates itself with from time to time.

The Da Lat Flower Festival, which draws thousands of domestic andinternational visitors to the city every year, honours both theprofession of horticulture and the horticulturists - the farmers andartisans - who have made it one of two largest floral shows in Asiaalongside a similar event in Hong Kong.

Nguyen XuanTien, chairman of the Lam Dong province People's Committee, said:"Flowers and growers have always been close to Da Lat's entiredevelopment process. They have provided all kinds of flowers to thecity, which now has thousands of species with origins elsewhere in thecountry as well as many other countries in the world.

"They are making important contributions to the province'ssocio-economic development, and enabling the Da Lat Flower brand becomefamous at home and abroad."

This year's flowerfestival, the fifth, is expected to be the biggest one to date as itgreets several other important events - both national and pertaining toDa Lat City in particular. These include the first Vietnam-Asia HeritageFestival, the launch of the National Tourism Year and the celebrationof the 120th year of founding and development of Da Lat.

Of course, farmers in the city are kept the busiest of all by the flower festival.

In Thai Phien village which is a traditional daisy planting community,farmers are busy taking care of more than 30 hectares of daisy, lilyand carnation fields so as to have the flowers ready for display at theevent.

Ho Ngoc Dinh, president of the localfarmers' association, said the village will also welcome tourists whowant to visit it and learn more about its vocational and othertraditions.

Farmers in Van Thanh village, meanwhile,plan to create a 120m long "rose road" to greet the festival. The roadwill be arranged with several parterres at which the village's typicalspecies of roses including velvety, pink and white roses will beplanted.

Villagers will also prepare various typesof floral products including dry flowers and flower paintings to servevisitors at the festival.

"We're doing lots ofthings to make Da Lat as pretty as possible," said a member of the DaLat Flower Festival 2014 organising committee.

"Weexpect to mobilise at least 1.3 million flower farming units, includingenterprises and household businesses, to participate in the festival.The figure is nearly three times more than in 2005."

He said the city now has 3.5 million enterprises involved in producingand trading flowers and they are ready to supply products for thefestival.

"However, we still encourage neighbouringprovinces and foreign companies to bring their flower products to theevent to increase everyone's enjoyment.

"To date,foreign flower companies mainly from Japan, China, the Republic of Koreaand Thailand have accepted our invitation."

TheDa Lat urban works management company will be responsible for settingup large panels of flowers and floral towers in the city.

The Da Lat Flower Garden, where the international flower exhibitionwill take place, is being rearranged and parterres are being replantedto make sure that the flowers will bloom at festival time.

All households in Da Lat have been encouraged to grow flowers andapricot trees along the city's main streets are being cared for byhorticulturists so they bloom just in time.

Flower power

Da Lat has six traditional flower villages - Ha Dong, Thai Phien, DaThien, An Son, Van Thanh and Xuan Tho - that grow similar varieties offlowers and specialise in a few others.

Pham Van An,director of Lam Dong province's Department of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment, said that the flower cultivation area in the province,mainly Da Lat, had doubled from 1,731ha in 2003 to nearly 4,000ha withan output of about 14 billion bunches of flowers at present. Of these,52 million are exported for a turnover of 25 million USD.

In addition to traditional markets such as Singapore, China and Japan,Da Lat's well-known flowers like roses, lilies, orchids and daisieshave also been exported to Europe and North America, An said.

In December 2009, the Department of Intellectual Property under theMinistry of Science and Technology granted the "Hoa Da Lat" (Da LatFlowers) brand to the Lam Dong People's Committee.

The brand, deemed a common asset of the community of Da Lat producersand traders, is managed by the Da Lat People's Committee.

"In recent years, flower growers in the city have enhanced theapplication of advanced technology in farming, packaging andpreservation, improving yield and quality as well as reducingpost-harvest losses so that Da Lat flowers could gain internationalrecognition," An said.

Nguyen Minh Tam, deputydirector of the Lam Dong Department of Science and Technology, said thatalthough Da Lat flowers are well-known in both domestic and overseasmarkets, building a strong Da Lat Flower brand is still a major task forlocal authorities and flower growers.

As a result,the Hoa Da Lat brand received the certificate by the Department ofIntellectual Property in 2012. It has since become a common asset offlower growers and other residents, and is managed by the People'sCommittee.

Recently, five more flower species widelygrown in Da Lat - roses, chrysanthemum, bluebell, clove pink and swordlily - were allowed to bear the Da Lat Flower brand name, said DuongNgoc Duc, head of the economic bureau under the Da Lat People'sCommittee.

Forty-two individuals and facilities thatgrow the above flowers will now be allowed to use the brand on thepackaging and promoting their products for three years.

Ha Van Dong, 62, one of several famous flower growers in Da Lat, saidfarmers in Ha Dong Village cultivate mostly chrysanthemums but have alsoreserved some land for lisianthus.

"My parentsbegan growing flowers in the 1960s, but it only became a profitablebusiness in 1996 when we decided to develop some new flower varietiesand use greenhouses," he said.

This year, his familywill show off 1,000 chrysanthemum and lisianthus flowers at Xuan HuongLake, Dong said and adding, "We are working very hard to look after theflowers so that they bloom during the festival. It is very difficult butwe have to try."

Nguyen Hung Vinh, a farmer from DaThien 3 Village, said that up to 80 percent of the village's householdsgrow flowers, mostly rose, chrysanthemum, orchid, carnation andgerbera.

"We have prepared hard to display some 10varieties of flowers at the festival. We really want to ma𓄧ke our citymore beautiful than ever," he added.-VNA