Flowers of my hometown

March brings with it gentle sunshine, clear blue skies and cool breezes of late spring. It is also the time when many flowers of the homeland compete to bloom, adorning the nature of the earth and sky with a poetic and peaceful beauty. Among the myriad of flowers of the peaceful March days, the kapok flowers, xoan flowers, and grapefruit flowers are like typical marks, making people's hearts flutter and flutter every time they look at them.

Illustration photo.

At the village gate, at the riverside, in the middle of the green fields, along the road, everywhere you can see the brilliant cotton flowers like halos of fire lighting up a corner of the sky. The ancient cotton trees with rough trunks, strong and sturdy branches reaching up into the vast sky, each flower with five thick petals blooming proudly. The bright red color of the flowers stands out against the clear, blue sky like a reminder of childhood memories, of the peaceful countryside with sleepless afternoons, with the children in the village wandering under the cotton trees picking flowers and stringing them into strings. When the petals fall, spreading all over the ground like a bright red carpet, that is also the time when the last cold spell ends. I hear my mother humming again: "When will March come/ The cotton flowers fall, the old woman puts away her blanket"...

If the red cotton tree flowers bring a brilliant, passionate beauty, the xoan flower leaves many people loving and remembering it for its gentle, pure beauty. The small flowers grow in clusters, floating like clusters of light purple clouds, dotted on the bare branches that are sprouting young leaves. Every time the spring breeze blows gently, the pretty little petals fall, creating a fragile, poetic curtain. Under the xoan tree, the country children happily play, letting each petal fall on their shoulders, on their sunny, golden hair. Although the flower scent is a bit strong, especially when in full bloom, in return, the gentle beauty and dreamy purple color of the xoan flower always makes us yearn every time we remember it.

March also brings the fragrant scent of grapefruit flowers, permeating the air, evoking many unforgettable memories. In the countryside garden, in the quiet alleys, clusters of grapefruit flowers with pure white petals, bright yellow pistils, shyly spreading their fragrance among the dark green leaves, bringing a truly pure and innocent beauty. The grapefruit scent is gentle, delicate and profound, enough to make anyone passing by stop and take a deep breath. I remember the old days, when the grapefruit flowers were in full bloom, my mother often picked bunches of flowers to bring home to make tea, sugarcane, make sticky rice cakes, and tapioca lotus seed sweet soup. She put the flowers in the basin of water to wash my aunts' hair, to make my aunts' hair more shiny, with a hint of the countryside breeze.

The rustic and simple colors of March flowers, each with its own beauty, make the scenery of the homeland in the days of the transition between spring and summer both heartbreakingly beautiful and nostalgic. Then, when the days of March gently pass by like the soft xoan flower petals flying in the wind, in the hearts of many people, sweet and regretful emotions well up.

Lam Hong

Source: https://baonamdinh.vn/van-hoa-nghe-thuat/202503/nhung-sac-hoa-que-nha-feb0f3f/