Kimjongilia is coming into bloom in the house of Jang Hyon Ju, student of the Pyongyang Agricultural College of Kim Il Sung University, as well.
Her mother Kang Jong Bok has this to say:
"During her primary school days my daughter Hyon Ju visited the venue of the Kimjongilia Festival. At that time she said she wanted to take the flower home and next moment, expressed her will to grow it. So we got a seedling of the flower and began to grow it. But it didn´t grow well. We had difficulty for about one year. But we did our best before the 10th Kimjongilia Festival. After all, the flower we cultivated was selected at the festival. Since then we cultivated the flower with confidence and participated in the festival every year."
Of course, her mother helped her. But cultivation of flower was strange to Jang Hyon Ju and it did not go well with desire alone.
"It did not go as I thought. In summer the flower grew properly, but in winter it was difficult to ensure necessary temperature, light and humidity. What irritated me all the more was that just before the festival some buds did not open and some flowers faded. I nearly burst into tears."
Student Jang asked teachers about the biological characteristics of Kimjongilia, called on horticulturists and heard experiences of those who had cultivated Kimjongilia at home. Perusing various books, she learned the know-how. To cultivate the flower for the festival she built a "greenhouse" in winter and kept vigil several nights, measuring temperature. Such days and months passed and Jang could present more than 50 pots of Kimjongilia to the Kimjongilia Festival seven times until last year from Juche 95 or 2006. In the course she has become a good cultivator of Kimjongilia. Now she has mastered the cultivating technology; she grows the flower bigger and redder and keeps the flower in bloom long. But she did not only cultivate the flower."I could see her mentaly maturing, while cultivating the flowers. If the flowers wither even a little, she felt as if there was a flaw in her mind. It was really admirable. Moreover, I found her cry holding Kimjongilia in her arms after hearing the sad news of the demise of Kim Jong Il. That year she had grown the flowers with greater efforts.
Seeing the certificates of participation in the festival increasing every year, I think my daughter is growing so much."
Jang Hyon Ju is showing all her sincerity in cultivating more than 10 pots of Kimjongilia to present to the imminent 17th Kimjongilia Festival.
"I will continue to cultivate the immortal flower Kimjongilia in the future, too."
[...] In Korea February is a significant month with the Day of the Shining Star, February 16, the birth anniversary of the great leader Kim Jong Il. February belongs to winter, not a flowering season. [...]
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