Here in the northern United States, spring has nearly sprung, when plants start blooming again and people start to think about gardening. So I thought it would be a good time to learn about gardening terms in Portuguese.

First off, a garden is a jardim. Next, there’s jardinagem (gardening), to grow flowers and plants, and there’s paisagismo, which is landscaping. To grow something is to cultivar. So for example, you could say: Eu cultivo rosas brancas. (I grow white roses.)

When planting flowers, you can plant anuais (annuals) bienais (biannuals) and perenes (perennials). Some examples of annuals are the girassol (sunflower), tagetes (marigold), and boca-de-leão (snapdragon). An example of a biannual is the margarida (daisy). Examples of perennials are the açucena (lily), lavanda (lavender), and mosquitinho (baby’s breath).

You can also grow legumes (vegetables), such as alho-porró (leek), alface (lettuce), and rabanete (raddish). Or you can grow frutas (fruits), like melancia (watermelon) or morango (strawberry). You could also grow ervas (herbs) like hortelã (peppermint) or tomilho (thyme).

PS. Here’s a handy bilingual list of vegetables and herbs in English and Portuguese.

To garden, you’ll also need tools such as a pá (spade), mangueira (hose), and luvas (gloves).

To practice your gardening vocabulary, check out this gardening tips video:

Do you like to garden? If so, what do you like to grow? Tell us in Portuguese!