Published:  14:26 Wednesday - November 23, 2016

Day’s Eye daisies, as suggested by the name, only open in full sunlight. As the first rays of the sunshine across the flowers, they slowly pick their heads up and start tracking the sun’s progress across the sky. At dusk, they slowly shut their “eyes” by curling their white petals inwards.

Hanoians are falling head over heels for the flowers that are scared of the dark. 

Picking white daisies as the first fingers of dawn streak across the fields may sound like an idyllic pastime, but it is also a profitable business.

Flower growers on the outskirts of Hanoi are said to earn VND200-300 million ($9,000-$13,000) each season from cultivating Day’s Eye daisies.

According to farmers, the unusual sunny weather for this time of year has led to a stunning display of the daisies along the banks of the Red River.

“The flowers have bloomed 10 days later this year,” said Chung, who grows Day’s Eyedaisies and other flowers that are bundled into bouquets and sold locally.

The flowers are at their best for about 10 days before they are harvested. Many people are taking advantage of this small window of opportunity to capture stunning photos of the daisies.

“It takes my family about two weeks to harvest the flowers on our 2,000 square meter plot. During that time, we let people come to the farm to take photos at a cost of VND20,000 per person,” said Nguyen Trong Hanh.

“A fist-sized bouquet can now fetch as high as VND80,000-100,000. By the end of the harvest, we could make a total of VND250 million,” Hanh continued.

Day’s Eye daisies, as suggested by the name, only open in full sunlight. As the first rays of the sunshine across the flowers, they slowly pick their heads up and start tracking the sun’s progress across the sky. At dusk, they slowly shut their “eyes” by curling their white petals inwards.