Top 5 Vietnamese Tet Flowers indispensable for a brighter home

Vietnamese Tet Flowers are what people often care about whenever welcoming the traditional holiday Tet. There are many flowers for Tet but below top 5 flowers will help you have a brighter house. 

Vietnamese Tet Flowers

Vietnamese New Year, also called “Tet Nguyen Dan”, is the most important festival in Vietnam. Tet is the start of spring and of the new year. There are listed individual desires – renewal, hope, and wealth. Namely, Vietnamese Tet is one of the oldest and spiritual celebrations. Between customs and traditions, it’s a pretty custom to put flowers in a house. The individual flowers are available and convey all the meanings. After an introduction to the context of Tet in Vietnamese culture, let’s define five floral motifs of Tet.

Yellow apricot blossom (Mai flower)

Yellow apricot blossom has a Vietnamese name "Hoa Mai", is the most representative Tet flower in Southern Vietnam. This flower has a small and delightful sunny yellow color so it symbolizes prosperity, wealth and happiness. In earlier days, it was said that the more buds, the better luck and fortune. So they used this flower to decorate at home to wish for luck and success for the family in the New Year. A Vietnamese family in the South will traditionally use Mai branches or a whole tree to display at home during Tet.'

Yellow apricot blossom

Yellow color of the Mai flower is the same as the color of gold, so it has extra meaning. Besides, yellow is also a routine color of Vietnam that symbolizes royal age and richness. With Vietnamese, Tet is the time of renewal, so when flowers bloom, relay some measure of strength and endurance much valued by the Vietnamese people as they celebrate the new year.

Hence the yellow apricot blossom flowers are not just ornamental but are so spiritually symbolic. The flower is displayed at home, specially on the altars. By this way, people ask for their ancestors' blessings for the coming year. Before Tet a month, Mai trees have their branches trimmed and shaped with a lot of attention. People prepare and take care of it as a sign of the preparations Vietnamese families undertake to ensure that Tet is expected to be a time of perfection and positivity.

Peach Blossom (Dao flower) 

If yellow apricot blossoms are popular in the South of Vietnam, peach blossoms are favorite in the North. Especially in Hanoi, peach blossoms are the most prominent flowers. The peach blossom has small delicate pink blossoms so it brings a gentle and pure beauty. It is also considered as a symbol for prosperity, health and longevity. Besides, the Northern people also love the gentle and elegant so peach blossom is the perfect choice for the Tet festival.

peach blossom

Vietnamese believe that the peach blossom flower will help to fight off evil spirits and bring harmony in the household. The Northern Vietnamese people think that the flowers blooming throughout the holiday will symbolize a new potential and development flaunting of the new year. The flower is used indoors and prepared for a month before the Holiday.

Kumquat Tree (Citrus Japonica)

Another important tree displayed in Tet decoration that is not to be missed is the kumquat tree. Although the tree does not flower, its fruits are outstanding. The tree can be seen in every house and enterprise all over Vietnam. The fruit is small and has a round orange color, especially since there are plenty of fruits, making it more luxuriant. Because of this feature of fruit, the tree is useful for symbolizing fertility, prosperity and abundance. The fruits are associated with wealth and success, while the leaves give the impression of growth and vitality. 

Kumquat Tree

Vietnamese believe that in the period of Tet, having a kumquat tree full of fruit, will bring blessings and fortune for the new year. Kumquat trees is also a common tree associated with Vietnamese daily life as its fruits are used in dishes and beverages. The fruits can make candied kumquats, kumquats refreshment drink for summer, squeeze kumquats into dishes such as Pho and noodle.

Kumquat trees are easy to grow and develop. When people buy it from the market, they can take it out of the pot and grow it in the garden. The tree will produce fruit continuously. However, in order to have more kumquat trees, fruit and even fruit, people have to grow and take care dedicatedly.

Chrysanthemums Flower (Hoa Cuc)

The next flower in the list is chrysanthemums or Cuc flower. Long time ago, the chrysanthemums were widely used during Tet because they symbolize longevity, joy, and optimism. The vibrant colors of chrysanthemums have a combination of yellow, orange, and white. On Tet or first day and full moon day, chrysanthemums are often placed on family altars to honor ancestors.

Chrysanthemums Flower

The flowers are disease free and have the ability to grow in any type of weather and bloom for several weeks. For this reason, it has been a symbol of strength and resistance. For Vietnamese people, yellow, especially chrysanthemum, is believed to bring luck to homes, besides, yellow flowers’ vibrancy and petals offer a happy and warm feeling. 

About a few months before Tet, flower villages increase and take care of this flower for Tet time. When the Tet comes, people usually go to a flower market to select a better pot to put it in. Families put these pots around their houses or near their stores because these signify good luck and long life.

Lotus Flower (Hoa Sen)

Vietnam has lotus flower as their national flower and therefore most people in Vietnam are already familiar with it. That is why lotus flower is also favored what is used in house during Tet celebration period. Even though lotus is not as popular as some other flowers used during Tet festival but it is a holy flower according to Vietnamese culture. It is mostly depicted in the case of Tet pictures and graphics decoration concerns. But in real life, people like to place lotus in the house. The various parts of the flower and its existence in general is known to represent purity, attaining of knowledge and spiritual rebirth.

Lotus Flower

As used in temple and family shrines mostly lotus are used to depict the ancestors and gods. The lotus reflects on the spirituality during the current year and with the coming year it will experience growth and purging during Tet. Although lotus is not as popular as Tet but it is a holy flower of Vietnam people. It is only apparent in Tet pictures and in graphics decoration. Though it blooms in freshwater, lotus is more preferred in people’s houses for decoration purpose in daily use. The flower is related to chastity, clarity, faith, redemption and spiritual transformation. In daily life, people love to display lotus at home. The flower is associated with purity, spiritual enlightenment and renewal.

Above is information about Vietnamese Tet Flowers. We hope that with this information about the top 5 popular flowers will help you to understand more about Vietnamese Tet flower custom. Each flower brings a different meaning so it will reflect the signal that the year brings about. If you have a chance to welcome the Tet holiday in Vietnam, let's try to display these flowers in your home. 

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