Japanese cherry blossoms in Dien Bien province

Cherry blossoms in Pa Khoang, Muong Phang commune, Dien Bien province before the Lunar New Year Festival (Photo: congthuong.vn)

Just like Sake, there are many types of cherry blossoms in Japan. We can distinguish these types of flower based on the number of petals, shape, color as well as bloom time.

Japanese cherry blossoms have three main colors: white, pink white and red. One of the most popular types is the Yoko cherry blossom, which is crossbred with two flower types of Amagi Yoshino and Kanhi.

Edohigan is one of two types of flowers used to breed and create Yoshino. This flower is popular and found mainly in the Kanto region.

Edohigan cherry blossom has smaller petals than Yoshino, usually blooming at the end of March, but blooming time may vary slightly depending on weather conditions.

Applied agricultural scientist, Dr. Tran Le brought pure Edohigan cherry blossoms to Vietnam in 2006 in Pa Khoang, Muong Phang commune, Dien Bien province, through a Japanese person named Yoshihira with the 10 first seeds.

After 45 days of care, the 10 seeds sprouted nine plants. Then, on the occasion of the Japanese business delegation’s visit to Vietnam, Mr. Yoshihira presented another 50 seeds and then additional 200 seeds.

Through research, Dr. Tran Le found that the soil and climate in Pa Khoang are very suitable for growing the Japanese Edohigan cherry blossoms.

Thus, after 18 years of grafting and breeding, the cherry blossom garden in Pa Khoang of Muong Phang has become a tourism destination of Dien Bien province with over 100,000 trees. This is also the largest Edohigan cherry blossom garden in Vietnam today./.