Valeriu Razvan Pintilie

Valeriu Razvan Pintilie is an expert in caring for the Garden’s collection of tropical plants and orchids. 

His family’s history working with plants influenced Valeriu to pursue his career in horticulture. Having attended a high school in Romania in the early ’90s that focused on horticulture, he later obtained a Bachelor degree in Horticulture in 2002 and began his career by completing the International Horticulture Exchange Program in the UK from 2003–2005. 

Valeriu is responsible for tending to more than 2,000 plants (1,300 of them orchids) with a variety of essential duties including watering, pest control, monitoring the flowering, and researching potential new plants to add to the Garden’s important living collection. 

He began working at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney in 2015 in the Commercial Services team, maintaining gardens for the Sydney Opera House, National Art Gallery, and Australian Museum, then moved on to the Office of Environment and Heritage, where he tended heritage gardens for Vaucluse House, Elizabeth Farm, and Rouse Hill House and Farm.  

Next was a stint in the Yurong Precinct in The Domain, building garden projects including the Southern Africa Garden, Wildflower Meadow, and Oriental Garden before landing his current role at the nursery, curating the orchids collection and maintaining plant data records. 

Native orchids are one of Valeriu’s passions, and the Bulbophyllum romyii his favourite plant. When he is not in the Garden’s nursery, Valeriu can be found posting photos and videos of plants on social media.