Half of my garden at the beginning of July - Jumatate din gradina mea, la inceput de iulie

Gorgeous sunset - apus superb




Lavender and daylily - levantica si crin salbatic (de zi)




Narcissus - narcisa




Daylily - crin salbatic (de zi)




Thuja wall - peretele de Thuja




Magnolia




Fresh cut red rose - trandafir proaspat taiat




Lavender - levantica




White-yellow Dahlia - Dalia alb-galbuie




Canna flower (second one) - floare de Canna (a doua)




Canna flower (second one) - floare de Canna (a doua)

My garden at the beginning of May- Gradina mea, la inceput de mai

Prunul, care a fost si tuns deja, pentru ca era timpul. Sper ca anul asta sa mancam ceva prune mai dulci decat cele de anul trecut.

The plum tree, already mowed, 'cause it was time. I am hoping this year we'll eat some plums, sweeter that the ones from last year.

Poienita de conifere, imbogatita cu noi exemplare.

Coniferous meadow, enriched with some new plants.

Pinul cel nou

The new pine

Capsunii cataratori

Climbing strawberries

Trandafirul alb

The white rose

Trandafirul rosu

The red rose

Crinul alb de la Victoria

The white lily from Victoria

Narcisa si irisii, tot de la Victoria

Narcissus and irises, also from Victoria


Cele doua Thuja noi

The new Thuja


Crinul salbatic

The wild lily



In postul urmator voi vorbi despre vita-de-vie. Chiar daca credeti ca stiti totul despre vita-de-vie, sper sa aflati cateva lucruri noi de la mine!

In the next post I will talk about grape vine. Even if you think you know all about it, I am hoping that I will bring some new information!

Another 5 plants in our garden! Inca 5 plante in gradina noastra!

Oooooo, da! Ieri suna interfonul, pe la 6, cred. "Sunt domnul cu plantele, am mai adus un pin superb, va intereseaza?" Raspuns: "sotul meu trebuie sa ajunga cam in 10-15 minute, puteti sa asteptati sau sa reveniti peste 30 minute?". "Aaaa, nu, il asteptam, nu e nicio problema!"

Ooooooo, yes! Yesterday, somebody call me on the interphone, around 6, I think. "I am the man with the plants, I brought another gorgeous pine, are you interested?" Answer: "my husband will be here in 10-15 minutes, can you wait or can you come back in 30 minutes?". "Aaaaa, no, it's ok, we'll wait for him, it's not a problem!"

Evident ca asteptau, ca doar cati clienti sunt dispusi sa investeasca niste bani inainte de Paste? Hehehe... poate doar Dani.

Of course they will wait, how many clients are willing to invest some money before Easter? Hehehe... maybe only Dani.

Concluzia? Inca 4 Thuja in gradina noastra si un pin superb! Inca nu am facut fotografii, dar daca nu reusesc astazi, sigur maine le veti vedea si pe acestea!

The conclusion? Another 4 Thuja in our garden and a gorgeous pine! I dont't have any pictures right now, but if I will not make some today, tomorrow for sure you will see them!

Ca atare, oamenii incoace si incolo, unii la cumparaturi, altii fac curatenie, unii gatesc, altii isi fac bagajele pentru mini-vacanta, nooooooi, nuuuuuu, noi plantam copaci!!!! Iupiiiiiii, cine mai e ca noi???

So, people are here and there, some to shopping, others with cleaning, some are cooking, others make the luggage for the mini-vacation, weeeeeeeeeee, noooooooo, we are planting trees!!!! Iupiiiiii, who is like us?

Dupa cum spun deseori, la noi ca la nebuni!!! Tot timpul! Dar e fun, traiesti viata la maxim si te bucuri de fiecare clipa! Voi ce ziceti?

As I say very often, we are like in a madhouse!!! All the time! But it's fun, we are living life to the maximum and enjoying every minute of it! What do you say about that?

Whom can you call a real gardener? Ce inseamna sa fii gradinar adevarat?

Voi ma stiti... si daca nu ma stiti, ma puteti cunoaste pe Creata la Patrat. Dupa cum am scris si in antet, sunt o tipa amuzanta, haioasa, cinica, libera, corecta si lista poate continua cu inca o multime de alte asemenea.

You know me... and if you don't, you can get to know me on Creata la Patrat. As I wrote there, I am a funny girl, happy, cynical, free, fair and honest, and the list can go on with a lot of these.

Am tot stat si m-am gandit daca sa scriu acest post sau nu... Nooo, nu va agitati, ca n-am gandit mult!

I sat and thought if I should write this post or not... Noooo, don't get excited, I didn't thought too much!

Ce inseamna sa fii gradinar adevarat? O persoana care are gradina de legume este mai "sus" decat una care are doar o gradina cu plante si flori? Daca ai pomi fructiferi in curte te poti considera un gradinar mai de soi? Daca ai gradina si altii au doar o mica "sera" in apartament, te crezi mai destept?

Whom can you call a "true and real gardener"? A person who has a vegetables garden is "higher" than a person who has only plants and flowers? If you have fruit trees in the yard you can call yourself a better gardener? If you have a large garden and others only have a little garden in the apartment, do you think you're smarter?

Hmmm... dileme... pentru unii! Pentru mine este foarte clar! Gradinaritul este o pasiune frumoasa si care iti aduce multe satisfactii. Daca ai plante si flori in apartament, pomi sau arbusti in curte, tot gradinar te numesti!! Ca sa fiu putin (sau mai mult, voi decideti) cinica, voi da trei explicatii din dex.

Hmmm... dilemas... for some people! For me it's clear! The gardening is a beautiful passion, which brings you many satisfactions. If you have plants and flowers in your apartment, trees or shrubs in the garden, you can call yourself a gardener! To be a little bit (or more, you decide), cynical, I will give three explanations from the dictionary.

Gradinar - persoana care se ocupa de cultivarea unei gradini
Gradina - suprafata de teren arabil, de obicei ingradita, pe care se cultiva legume, flori sau pomi fructiferi, in vederea obtinerii unor produse.
Cinic - care denota sfidare; sarcastic, sfidator, insolent, nerusinat.

Gardener - a person who cultivates a garden
Garden - an arable land, usually with fence around it, where you can grow vegetables, flowers or fruit trees, in order to obtain products.
Cynical - indicates contempt; sarcastic, insolent, shameless.

Aceasta dorinta de frumos, aceasta dovada de iubire de natura, aceasta pasiune, dupa cum spuneam mai sus, trebuie sa uneasca oamenii si sa ii innobileze. Dupa parerea mea, avem parte de competitii toata viata noastra. Daca ne referim strict la subiectul gradinarit, competitia nu isi are locul. Adica, da, te uiti, afli, intrebi, ai vrea, ai prioritati, te inspiri, muncesti, dar totul trebuie sa ramana in spiritul unei competitii pozitive, daca imi permiteti licenta. Asa vad eu lucrurile! Daca participi la competitii cu lalele galbene, nu poti sa nu admiri concurentul care a inventat o lalea in picatele portocalii cu dungi albastre!

Din pacate, intotdeauna vom gasi persoane pe care pasiunea declarata cu voce tare peste tot nu ii innobileaza!

This desire for beauty, this evidence for nature love, this passion, as I said earlier, should bring people close to each other and should ennoble them. In my opinion, we participate in competitions entire our lifes. If we are narrowing to the gardening, the competition is out of order. I mean, yes, you are looking, find out, asking, wishing, have priorities, inspiring, working, but everything should stay in the spirit of positive competition, if you are allowing me to use this license. That's how I see things! If you are participating in a competition with yellow tulips, you can't stop yourself to admire the contestant who invented the tulip with orange dots and blue stripes!

Unfortunately, we will always see people who declares their passion out loud, but this passion don't ennoble them!

Trebuie sa imi pun ceapa si morcovi in gradina ca sa ma ridic la nivelul celorlalti gradinari???? Sau sa trec la chestii "grele", gen broccoli, fasole roz si cartofi mov?????

Should I plant onion and carrots in the garden to rise up to other gardener's level? Or should I plant "hard" stuff, like broccoli, pink beans or purple potatoes?

Neaaaaah, raman la ce stiu mai bine, la ce imi place sa ingrijesc, la gradina mea, ca un adevarat GRADINAR ce ma aflu!

Neaaah, I stick to what I know best, to what I love to care, to my garden, like a real GARDENER!

PS: legenda pentru fotografii.

Le-am realizat din dormitorul lui Dragos, fratele meu.

Prima fotografie, palcul de conifere noi, plantate duminica trecuta.

A doua fotografie, aproape toata gradina noastra, de la casa parintilor mei pana la casa noastra, avand foisorul in mijloc, magazia in dreapta sus si, nu se vede, in dreapta jos, padocul Dochitei, ciobanescul nostru carpatin. In stanga, unde este nisip acum, a fost terenul meu pentru jocuri outdoor, anul acesta va fi transformat in loc de joaca pentru Mariuca si prietenii ei.

A treia fotografie, padocul Dochitei, ea la umbra, undeva in spatele custii.

PS: photos' legend
I made the shots from Dragos' bedroom, my brother.
First photo, coniferous part, planted last Sunday.
Second photo, almost the whole garden, from my parents house to our house, with the garden wooden tower in the middle, tools shed to the upper right and, you don't see, lower right, Dochita's paddock, our carpathian sheppard dog. To the left, where is the sand now it was my playground, but starting this year will be the playground for Mariuca and her friends.
Third photo, Dochita's paddock, she is on the shadow, somewhere behind the kennel.

Nu arata perfect, mai este mult de munca, trebuie sa replantam gazonul, sa facem curatenie in foisor, sa scoatem tot pavajul din fata casei si sa punem bordurile care sunt langa magazie, sa curatam fiecare copac si planta in parte, sa..., sa... lista ramane deschisa!

Doesn't look perfect, we have a lot of work ahead us, we have to replant the grass, to clean the garden wooden tower, to remove the pavement in front of the house and to put the curbs (right now they are near the shed), to clean every tree and plant, to..., to... the list remains open!

In incheiere, o sa va bucur ochii cu o fotografie a unei flori superbe, un alt tip de magnolia, pe care o au parintii mei in gradina.

Closing, I will make you happy with a gorgeous flower, another magnolia type which my parents have in the garden.

Ideas for a "small" garden - Idei pentru o gradina "mica"

Stiti cum se autosesizeaza parchetul sau politia? Uite-asa am facut si eu! Am citit pe blog-ul Kristinei, aici, ca vrea sa isi amenajeze curtea, dar ca nu are decat 35 metri patrati la dispozitie. Cineva a lasat un comentariu in care isi exprima mirarea (ca sa nu zic rautatea, hehe) si se intreba unde o sa ii intre toate lucrurile de pe lista de "to do". Si atunci m-am zbarlit! :)

I read on Kristina's blog that she wants to arrange a courtyard, only 35 square meters. Somebody left a message and wondered where she will put all the stuff on the "to do" list.

In primul rand, nu conteaza cat ai teren... 35, 100 sau 500 metri patrati. Daca ai ciment, e perfect! Nu la fel de atragator ca o "mare" verde, dar se pot face lucruri absolut spectaculoase! Nu toata lumea are noroc de curte generoasa, plus ca o curte de dimensiuni mari este greu de ingrijit si necesita ajutoare serioase. Cu un copil mic, la varsta agitatiei extreme si alergatului, nici nu sfatuiesc sa va apucati de o gradina mare fara sa angajati o firma sau zilieri.

First of all, doesn't matter how small is your yard... 35, 100 or 500 sqm. If you have concrete or pavement, that's perfect! Not as apealing as a green "sea", but you can do spectacular arrangements! Not everybody is lucky enough to have a huge yard, beside that, a large yard is hard to care for it and needs serious help. With a baby in his "up and running" stage, I advise you to hire a company or workers by day.

Cimentul sau spatiul pavat iti da posibilitatea sa te extinzi pe verticala. Este curat, nu trebuie sa cureti buruieni si aspectuos. Poti alege flori cataratoare sau curgatoare (ca sa-ti ocupe spatiu putin), ridicate/coborate pe spaliere din lemn. Spalierele pot fi montate in ghivece mai mari, la modul urmator: in ghivece poti avea flori de dimensiuni mici, gen primula, garofite, craite, lalele, si tot acolo poti planta plante agatatoare, pe care sa le urci pe spalier. Ceskai i-am recomandat intr-un alt post de-al meu cateva plante cataratoare. Varianta cu plantele curgatoare este aproape identica, cu mica diferenta ca ghiveciul trebuie sa fie sus, iar planta sa curga frumos. Cand zic sus, nu ma gandesc ca e nevoie de scaun la udat, ci poate sa fie cam 1,8-2-2,2 metri.

The concrete or the pavement gives you the possibility to expand verticaly. Clean, without weeds and nice. You can choose climbing or falling flowers (to ocupy less space) next to wooden trelisses. Teh trelisses can be fixed on a pot like this: in the pot you can have little flowers (primrose, small carnation, tulips) close to climbing flowers, which you can climb on the treliss. I wrote a post with some recommendations for Ceska here. The other variant, with the falling plants, is almost identical, but the pot has to be at 1,8-2-2,2 m height.

Kristina spusese ca isi doreste un pavilion pentru gradina. Am si eu in fix, ca am avut si stiu ca nu e trainic, asa ca ii recomand o alta varianta, la fel de practica, dar, zic eu, mult mai frumoasa: o pergola pe care o poti acoperi cu verdeata (sa nu te bata soarele) si care poate suplini lipsa de verdeata de la nivelul solului. Pe aceasta pergola, in exteriorul ei, se pot monta spaliere si se pot planta chiar si trandafiri cataratori!

Kristina said that she wants a garden pavilion. I have something on my mind with this pavilion, 'cause I had one and broken. So I recommend her another option, also practical, but much nicer: a pergola with various plants (not to let the sun) which can substitute the lack of verdure from the ground. On this pergola, you can fix trelisses, and outside it you can plant even climbing roses!

Ca sa decorezi o curte cu ciment, se pot cumpara ghivece mari, din plastic, dar cu diverse forme si texturi (imitatie de caramida, de lut, de piatra etc.) si se pot planta diverse conifere, ca sa ramana o zona verde pe tot parcursul anului. Noi avem thuja - le poti vedea aici si aici. Este o planta foarte iubita si se gaseste in mai multe variante.

To decorate a concret yard, you can buy large pots, plastic, but with various shapes and textures (brick, clay, stone etc.) and you can plant coniferous trees, to stay green all year long. We have thuja - you can see them here and here. It is a loved plant and in numerous shapes.

Eu cred ca scopul oricarui iubitor de plante si de verdeata, de natura si de frumos, este sa gaseasca locuri, variante si idei astfel incat sa isi realizeze un spatiu de relaxare atat de necesar oriunde ar fi acesta si oricat de mic ar fi.

I think the purpose of each plant, nature and beauty lover, is to find places, variants and ideas to create a relaxing space so needed nowdays, not matter where is this space or how small it is.

A whole new garden!! Mine! O gradina cu totul noua! A mea!

Sambata, o parte din gradina noastra s-a schimbat complet! Adica, Dani a cumparat 7 Thuja, 2 pini gen Jenupar, pitici, si a primit gratis 2 salcii crete. A muncit toata ziua sa le planteze, a plecat apoi si a cumparat 4 pietre mari, iar rezultatul il vedeti mai jos:

Saturday, a part of our garden changed completely! Dani bought 7 Thuja, 2 pines (resembles with Jenupar), small, and received 2 free curly willows. He worked all day to plant them, bought also 4 big stones, and you can see the result below:



Alt unghi

Another angle



Nu sunt superbi?

Arent't they gorgeous?



Salcia creata

Curly willow



Pinii si pietrele

The pines and the stones



Tot aranjamentul

The whole mini-garden



Iar acum... pun niste poze cu dezvoltarea plantelor si florilor. Inceput de aprilie, la noi in gradina:

And now, some pictures with the development of plants and flowers. At the beginning of the April, our garden:

Thuja



Magnolia



Trandafir

Rose



Crin salbatic

Wild lily



Cires

Cherry tree



Gutui

Quince tree



Cais

Apricot tree



Magnolia

Our new thuja! Noile noastre thuja!

Ieri dimineata ne-am marit colectia de thuja, de data aceasta cu 5 exemplare superbe, mari si frumoase.

Yesterday morning we increased our thuja collection, this time with 5 gorgeous plants, big and beautiful.

Pe acesta rotund l-am vrut in mod deosebit, pentru ca mi-a placut ideea unei plante rotunde, pentru ca era perfect pentru ghiveciul mare realizat de catre Dani (ajutat de tatal meu) si pentru ca nu am mai vazut pana acum.

This round thuja I particularly loved, because I love the idea of a round plant, because is perfect for my big wooden pot made by Dani (helped by my father), and because I didn't see a round thuja before.



Pozele le-am facut acum 10 minute, dar era o lumina foarte ciudata afara, de aceea s-ar putea sa nu va placa. Dar ideea este sa vedeti plantele, nu? :)

10 minutes ago I made the pictures, but it was a very strange light, so it's possible not to like them. But the idea is to see the plants, right? :)

Grupul celor 3! Ideea lui Dani este sa facem un "zid" de thuja, ca sa fie izolant fonic si sa tina praful la distanta de intrarea in casa.

G3 group! Dani's idea is to make a thuja "wall", to sound isolate and to keep the dust away from our main entrance.



Thuja cea mare, plantata de catre Dani langa pin, aproape de foisor. E superba si imi place foarte mult!

The big thuja, planted by Dani near the pine, close to the garden wooden tower. It's gorgeous and I love it!



Thuja a devenit o planta foarte iubita si in Romania, mai ales in parcuri si in gradinile publice, dar si in gradinile particulare. Aspectul sau decorativ si faptul ca este mereu verde ii face pe multi sa o cumpere, sa o ingrijeasca si sa o iubeasca.

Thuja became a very popular plant in Romania (and loved), planted in parks and public gardens, also in private gardens. Its decorative nature and the fact is always green makes a lot of people to buy it, to care for it and to love it.

Cea mai cunoscuta specie de thuja este Thuja occidentalis si este originara din sudul Canadei si nordul Statelor Unite. Are talie inalta (10-15 metri), cu forma piramidala. Este foarte rezistenta la temperaturile scazute, la seceta si suporta tunderea, spre deosebire de alte variante de thuja.

Thuja occidentalis is a very well-known species and it's native south Canada and north USA. It's a tall plant (10-15 m), pyramidal shape. It's resistent to low temperatures, drought and can be cut, unlike other species.

Carolus Linnaeus a descris aceasta planta in 1753, iar numele i-a ramas pana astazi. Alte nume comune: Eastern Arborvitae, American Arborvitae, Techny Arborvitae sau simplu Arborvitae.

Carolus Linnaeus described this plant in 1753 and the name remains current. Common names: Eastern Arborvitae, American Arborvitae, Techny Arborvitae, or just Arborvitae.

Thuja orientalis face parte din familia Cupressaceae si este originara din China si Japonia. Era denumita arbor vitae, adica arborele vietii de catre vechii alchimisti ai Evului Mediu. Grecii, egiptenii si chinezii il foloseau in arta terapeutica de acum 3.000 ani. Insusi regele Solomon (il stiti, cel cu judecata dreapta lui Solomon) a construit templu din Ierusalim din piatra si lemn de thuja.

Thuja orientalis is a part of Cupressaceae family and it's native China and Japan. The ancient alchemists from the Middle Ages gave it the name "arbor vitae", that means life's tree. The Greeks, the Egyptians and the Chinese used it in therapeutical art since 3.000 years ago. Solomon himself (you know him, the one with the Solomon's judgement) built the Jerusalem temple out of stone and thuja wood.

Unele femei folosesc rasina proaspata fara sa stie acest lucru. Cu ajutorul ei se fac anumite creme impotriva celulitei.

Some women use the fresh thuja pitch without knowing this. You can find it in some cellulite cream.