Flowers welcome summer with the street

Let's take a look at the flowers that are offering their colors and fragrance in Vinh city every summer.

Royal poinciana

In Vinh, almost every street has a pair of royal poinciana trees. From Quang Trung, go up to Nguyen Du, then turn into streets like Hoang Thi Loan, along the ecological road along the Lam River dike. Especially on streets like Le Hong Phong, Nguyen Van Cu... young royal poinciana trees grow in competition with old royal poinciana trees, full of flowers. Le Hong Phong Street has several schools "standing" such as Huynh Thuc Khang High School, Phan Boi Chau High School, Provincial Political School, every school yard is filled with royal poinciana colors.

The flower not only heralds summer, but is also considered the flower of school age, the flower of memories, the flower of first love. Which high school student has not once shyly held a branch of royal poinciana in their yearbook, never once looked up at the green canopy on a brilliant day and silently called out the name of the class, the name of the school, the name of a new memory?

“The bicycle baskets, filled with royal poinciana flowers, where are you taking my summer…”. That song still touches the hearts of many generations. Just as I still love to handwrite “The First Leaf” (Poem by Hoang Nhuan Cam) even though I can recite it by heart:

That beloved cluster of pink royal poinciana flowers leaves my hand

The clear sound of cicadas splits the lake in two

The cicada's heartless prophecy

There is someone who also starts to love

Lagerstroemia flowers

If royal poinciana brings a bright nostalgia, then lagerstroemia is calm and gentle. The purple color appears at the same time as royal poinciana, the tree prints a dreamy sky. Lagerstroemia is also abundant on Le Hong Phong Street, Tran Huy Lieu Street, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, Phan Dinh Phung Street, Le Mao Street, Truong Thi Street, the ecological road along Lam River, Quang Trung Street and some private trees in some other alleys. The lagerstroemia trees on Vinh Street seem to look "young" because the trees are not as big as royal poinciana or milk trees. Indeed, many rows of lagerstroemia trees on Vinh Street have only been planted in the last ten years (like on Tran Huy Lieu Street, the ecological road), for example. To mark that Vinh has many new streets.

The life of the Lagerstroemia flower is quite short. It only blooms for a dozen days, after a few rains and bright sunshines the purple color gradually fades. The saddest thing is to watch the Lagerstroemia flower in the summer rain. The fragile purple petals suddenly become tattered and pale. It seems that there is a poem that explains the short but philosophical life of the Lagerstroemia:

I know royal poinciana flowers

Blooming with the flowers of the Lagerstroemia

But the purple lagerstroemia falls first

Purple is often difficult!

The purple color of dreams, people still compare it to loyalty. Both simple and calm, thoughtful.

Nghe An poet Nguyen Ngoc Phu once confided: In his literary career, there was only one time he wrote a quatrain, which was also his rare love poem, inspired by "Hoa bang lang":

The purple flowers are in full bloom.

Not yet said all the things the flower wants to say

The color of purple flowers has passed, then it is frivolous.

Not satisfied so still... Lagerstroemia

That poem was also copied by many people in their youth in their notebooks and given to themselves and to each other as a way to remember the beloved purple flower.

Butterfly flower

When mentioning royal poinciana and purple-flowered lagerstroemia, we cannot forget to mention butterfly orchids. Butterfly orchids are also considered a flower associated with school age. Butterfly orchids are abundant in Vinh city on Le Viet Thuat, Hong Bang, Le Hong Phong, the ecological road along Lam river… Contributing yellow to the summer sky, the color of the flower is compared to the color of sunlight. It is true that the light of butterfly orchids shines like the color of summer sunlight. Radiant, fresh.

“One afternoon walking on this road, yellow butterfly flowers spread under my feet…”, that is the opening line of the song “The Road to School” (composer Pham Dang Khuong) that keeps ringing when people talk about butterfly flowers. The special thing is that butterfly flowers often bloom on the top of trees, behind the green leaves. And when they wither and fall, they still shine yellow. The bright, lasting yellow color, like burning sparks of fire.

Someone walked on the flower carpet, as if feeling like he was stepping on the sun?

Paper flowers

There is a flower that symbolizes simple, sincere love, that is bougainvillea. This is also a flower with tenacious vitality, able to withstand the harshness of heat and drought.

Although it is a shrub, bougainvillea has a long stem and can be planted on the street, in the garden or standing in a pot. Simple, easy to grow, and the flowers last a long time, so many Vinh townhouses choose bougainvillea to plant in front of the gate, on the fence. Bougainvillea has many colors: white, purple, red.

If you come to Vinh city, you will be surprised by the brilliant color of bougainvillea in a small alley at the end of Nguyen Quoc Tri street, or in front of a quiet villa on Dinh Le street, Yen Vinh. Tran Quang Dieu street also has many bright purple and red bougainvillea bushes, especially at the intersection between Tran Quang Dieu and Dao Duy Tu, right in front of a whitewashed house is a towering flower tree, lighting up a street. On Ho Tung Mau street, around Ho Chi Minh Square, bougainvillea is also grown in pots.

Bougainvillea is mentioned in many poems and songs, but there is one song that always makes people's hearts flutter, because it evokes nostalgia, love, and the anxieties of people in a life full of hardships and worries: "Still far away and boundless. Halfway across the river and several fields, the bougainvillea in someone's house looks so red. When I come home at noon, will you wait for me?" (Poetry by Hoai Vu, music by Thuan Yen)

A simple, humble flower, but also knows how to burn itself out like holding the eyes, holding the footsteps of people every time they pass by the street.

Soapberry flower

This season, soapberry flowers bloom on many streets. Dinh Bat Tuy, Tran Phu, Truong Thi, Le Loi, Ngu Hai… Soapberry flowers have a pale color, so few people pay attention to them. Only when the scent wakes up the people of the city every morning, do people look out to see the tiny white-green petals - then turning slightly yellow as if floating in the air.

Many people in Vinh city, when asked, did not know the name of the flower tree, many even called it by names they thought up, made up themselves such as wild royal poinciana, hair fairy, raspberry... Some people named the tree based on the shape of the leaves, others based on the shape of the flowers, the scent... Many houses had trees in front of their doors, but when asked the name of the tree, they still shook their heads in confusion. Only then did we know that the tree silently grew, silently spreading its fragrance on the sidewalk, regardless of the indifference.

Somewhat resembling dandelions, the soapberry petals look light, as if they want to disappear into the green canopy, where cicadas chirp noisily all summer afternoon.

Flowers bloom when the long, dry fruits are still dangling from the branches. And on the sidewalks, you have to be very leisurely to discover the flowers that have fallen and withered behind the sweeper's broom.

Rose

People in Vinh city are used to calling the tiny roses (sister roses) planted on the median strips "roses".

Pale pink roses. Soft, fragile. In some romantic moment, perhaps, people chose roses for the street dividers? Or because they were chosen because the flowers are easy to grow, easy to live and bloom all four seasons?

Roses are considered the flower symbol of love. The small roses growing on the roadside, not as radiant and proud as those often seen in gardens and flower pots, but they make the souls of people busy on the street calm down for a moment. The flowers suddenly become so close, just a reach of the hand can touch the fragrant scent. There is a girl who every night receives a flower stolen from the roadside. For her, that is enough for a love that has just arrived but is immeasurably great in her.

The young man picked it when turning onto Tran Phu and Le Duan streets, or found it on the flower beds in front of the Tecco apartment building. It could also be from the flower beds in the middle of Lenin Street. Whenever picking flowers, he would sing about “A Million Roses” in his heart, even though he only picked one small flower each night.

White lotus of Can Linh pagoda

The lotus pond in front of Can Linh Pagoda, right at the foot of Cua Nam overpass, has been a source of inspiration for many photographers every May. Many people have come here to take pictures of lotus and forever admire the unique beauty of Vinh Street.

Lotus in Vinh street is not only in Can Linh pagoda, but also in Nghi An. Right near Vinh street is Hung Thinh lotus pond, Hung Nguyen. But the white lotus in Can Linh pagoda is truly unique because of its pure lotus color, right in front of the pagoda. It evokes a peaceful beauty, like the "impermanent flowers" in the lyrics of the musician Trinh.

Buddha's birthday season, the season of lotus flowers blooming in ponds. Layers of petals surround each other, buds protruding above the surface of the still water. Some people call those petals lotus fingers. Lotus fingers clasp together, calm the mind, then slowly bloom, spread out, generously welcoming the whole world and opening up a dream of fragrance. It is those scents that awaken the dawn, awaken the sun, awaken the wind, awaken the birdsong.

On the lotus pond, the flower petals drifted. Dragonflies, dragonflies, and even bees followed the scent. Since the majestic Cua Nam overpass was built, the road down to the lotus pond seemed to be deserted. I don’t know why the lotus pond suddenly became deserted. But despite the changes, during the Buddha’s birthday season, the remaining lotus roots still bloomed, still quietly spreading their fragrance. So that the people of Vinh city can forever be proud, there is a flower of the month of May called the white lotus of Can Linh pagoda.