Lorraine Ballato
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Overview
16 Mudry Farm Rd Brookfield, Connecticut 06804I'm a plantaholic with the perfect job. I bring you the latest ideas and information about ornamentals and edibles with my trademark good humor, charm, and encyclopedic knowledge, creating talks that are both instructive and highly entertaining.
w: www.successfulselfwateringcontainers.com
w: www.lorraineballato.com/blogger
e: lorraineballato@gmail.com
Additional Information
HERE'S MY SHORT TERM SPEAKING CALENDAR FROM MY WEBSITE:
Description
As a freelance garden communicator, I wrote regular gardening columns for over 10 years, reaching more than 15,000 homes in western Connecticut. My writings include contributions to the section on "woodies" for the White Flower Farm Spring catalogs in addition to having my writing and photographs published regularly in Edible Nutmeg, Connecticut Gardener, and other horticultural publications.
As a professional horticulturist and Advanced Master Gardener, I have spoken on numerous gardening radio shows from Alaska to Connecticut. I'm an instructor at the New York Botanical Garden, in the Connecticut Master Gardener Program and have taught for The Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut. I speak at regional symposiums, flower shows, to civic groups and garden clubs, among other organizations. I'm known for my good humor, charm, and encyclopedic knowledge of ornamentals and edibles, creating talks that are both instructive and highly entertaining on a broad range of subjects which I tailor to each audience, using impressive images from a sizable slide collection. I recently published a book, Success With Hydrangeas, A Gardener's Guide in addition to my first book, Successful Self Watering Containers: Converting Your Favorite Container to a Self-Waterer.
In my role as an Advanced Master Gardener, I work with a sizeable team of gardeners of all levels in a 3000 square foot organic fruit and vegetable garden in Fairfield County, CT. From April through October each year, we grow and donate over 800 pounds of produce to homeless shelters and food banks, train master gardener interns and assist the gardening public on a weekly basis. It's some of the most meaningful work I do.
The Connecticut garden that my husband and I have created is not only my laboratory but has been the subject of magazine articles and has been on several garden tours.
Topics
FOOLPROOF HYDRANGEAS
HYDRANGEAS, TO PRUNE OR NOT TO PRUNE
THE MAGIC OF REBLOOMING HYDRANGEAS
SHRUBS, THE NEW PERENNIAL
DESIGNING WITH SHRUBS: THE BACKBONE OF THE GARDEN
SAFE SOLUTIONS TO GARDENS AND LANDSCAPES
TROPICALS IN YOUR GARDEN
NOT YOUR GRANDMOTHER’S ROSES
GROWING ROSES ORGANICALLY
HOME GROWN HARVESTS
THE INS AND OUTS OF SELF WATERING CONTAINERS
“DEER PROOFING” YOUR GARDEN
LOW MAINTENANCE GARDENING
SHADY CHARACTERS
VEGETABLES CONTAINED
Photo Gallery
Audience Reviews
Outstanding speaker!
David Chinery from Castleton-on-Hudson, NY - 03/20/2020 14:39:18
Lorraine was the keynote speaker at our annual Spring Garden Day, and had 250 people in her audience. She did a great job with the topic of gardening smarter, providing lots of practical advice. Her audience evaluations were among the best we've seen in the 22 years of this program.
All Things Hydrangeas
Susan Slagle from Easton, Ct - 03/19/2020 14:12:58
What a wonderful speaker. Lorraine spoke to the Easton Ct Garden club on foolproof hydrangeas. Her talk was well organized and beautifully illustrated with pictures of stunning hydrangea bushes. She provided a wealth of information and was able to answer all our questions. Best of all her talk was entertaining and enjoyed by all.
Foolproof Hydrangeas
Ellie Susmeyer from Easton - 03/12/2020 10:53:13
A most wonderful presentation, containing all the answers to our questions! A fun talk with the pertinent information we are all seeking! Lorraine covered the species well as well as the pitfalls. The q&a was wonderful as well!