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Nurseries in Vientiane
In a land where the breezes are perfumed with flowers--especially Dok Champa, the national flower--one would naturally expect to find a profusion of flowers for sale in the capital. Unfortunately, that is not necessarily the case, as cut flowers, a luxury item in Laos, are not as abundant as one would like.
Nevertheless, at the Morning Market streetside, one can find several vendors selling cut flowers, as well as wreaths and small pointy arrangements used as offerings in temples and individual homes. Upon inquiring about the origin of the flowers, we were surprised to learn that most of the cut flowers in the market are imported from Thailand, and the lady who was busy making funeral wreaths for a prominent foreign resident who has just died apologized for her small remaining supply of flowers. She told us to come back later, after the day’s shipment arrived from Nongkai on the Bangkok train. Like any self-respecting florist however, she did have the standard assortment of roses, glades, pompoms, marigolds and greens found in florist shops the world over.
Sometimes on the sidewalks, one can also find more exotic blooms that are grown locally. On several occasions, I passed sidewalk vendors displaying pots of orchids suspended from their bicycle handlebars.
Although, like cut flowers, orchid seeds and seedlings are also imported from Thailand, there are several nurseries in the capital that specialized in growing orchids and other tropical plants.
One such place is Soun Dokmaipa Ornamental Plants Service in Ban Phone Tong Savath, a short ride from downtown Vientiane, and the proprietor, Mrs. Bouahome Soukaseum, is only too happy to show visitors around the gardens and greenhouse.
As orchids live on air without need for soil and can grow on trees, almost all the nursery pots are suspended by wires and hang in rows, and visitors must take care not to bump their head, as I did. Some of the species raised are cattelya, dendrobium, onsidium and miniature doritis.
For farangs who are not orchid connoisseurs, the broad-petaled and showy cattelyas are probably the best known species. And for a suburbanite Yank such as myself, they bring back memories of glittery corsages purchased for school proms and weddings. For South Asian residents, perhaps the most familiar is the smaller empurpled dendrobium which has a cluster of blossoms on a spray. While cut orchids are rarely scented, in the nursery the potted plants carry a subtle fragrance discernible in the breeze.
Although the orchid seeds are imported, the nursery grows its own plants from seed. The seeds are incubated in bottles filled with agar-agar and other nutrients and kept under warm lights. Incredibly, it takes an orchid seed one year to germinate, and only after six months is the solution in the bottle changed. Prices for orchid plants range from about 6,000 to 8,000 kip (or about U$6-8), like everything else a bargain in the Laos, considering that elsewhere a single cut orchid might fetch U$5.
Another, larger nursery in the same area is the Phonekham Gardens which specialized in shrubbery and landscaped gardens and carries a vast range of plants and trees, from the humble pennywort (used in making hot weather beverages), miniature dwarfed trees (bonsais), potted palms and towering varieties that where I come from are only found in banks, corporate lobbies and hotels. Not coincidentally, Phonekham also landscapes and design gardens for Vientiane’s larger hotels and posh residences. The manager, Phonekeo, admires English gardens, avidly reads Australian house and garden magazines and makes frequent trips to Thailand to gather new plants and augment his garden statuary which include the usual lawn cupids and animals such as swans and deer. Anyone considering renting a house and making a garden in Vientiane will want to visit these nurseries for their garden needs.