BINH THUAN Sister Thanh Nga once thought about going back to her hometown to avoid the epidemic. When it was okay, she would return to Saigon, but the rose-scented garden kept her forever.
At the beginning of 2020, Covid appeared, causing a disturbance in the teaching job of Ms. Nga, 37 years old in Ho Chi Minh City. Once planning to return to her hometown, near the Co Thach tourist area, Tuy Phong district to enjoy a peaceful life, she believes this is the right time.
On a land of more than 500 m2, she grows vegetables. Good vegetables can’t be eaten, everyone’s neighbors grow them, so they don’t need to give them. Ms. Nga built a small lake and raised three geese to make use of leftover vegetables. But the career of growing vegetables and raising geese is not simple. When the epidemic subsided, she returned to Ho Chi Minh City.
In the middle of last year, when the fourth wave of Covid broke out in Ho Chi Minh City, her parents urged Ms. Nga to hurry back to her hometown. The female piano teacher packed her furniture and piano and left the city for the second time.
Liked roses, she bought some plants to try. “Thinking that the sandy soil is arid, the flowers are difficult to live, I did not expect the tiny new tree to bloom,” she said.
For a month in a row, she went online every day to order original or waste persimmon varieties. Without making soil, not mixing manure, she just digs the soil and buries it in the sand, watering twice a day.
Up to now, the rose garden has more than 500 trees, planted on both sides of the house entrance, with dozens of different varieties such as: Miyabi, Masora, Jubilee, Flaminggo, Cantina, Catalina, Shell… “When the tree took root in two weeks, I I just watered with ready-made organic fertilizer, but the tree grew as fast as blowing,” she said with a smile. All flowers in the garden share the same care.
The last time she returned to her hometown, every afternoon, Ms. Nga often felt bored and lonely, missing the hustle and bustle of Saigon. But since having a garden, pruning branches, and watering every day, she is so busy that there is no time to be sad.
“Every night, I’m always looking forward to the morning to see the flowers in bloom,” she said. The roses jostled together to bloom under the white sand help the owner of the garden to be confident as well as people, just need a strong desire to live, wherever they are, they are always happy and brilliant.
Having a garden to care for and love, the music teacher no longer intends to return to Ho Chi Minh City. Currently, she opens an online piano class for young children and foreigners.
Eating vegetables in the garden, the sea next to the house is full of fish, watching the flowers bloom every day, Ms. Nga feels like retiring at the age of 35.
The rose petals were about to fade, she picked them up to cook in the water and stored them in the freezer. In the hot afternoon sun, she put the frozen rose water in the bath to soak. “The floral scent is mild, so it’s very relaxing and refreshing. One day, I fell asleep in the bath,” she said. She also picks flowers, cooks them with honey, and dries them to make tea.
Nga often plays the piano until three o’clock in the morning. In the house of roses, the sound of the piano mixed with the scent of flowers helps her to calm down. “I always joke with people, I guess the flowers listen to a lot, so even though I don’t take care of them, they still grow quickly and bloom beautifully,” she said.