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
Hydrangea Pruning
Catherine Riordan from Redding, CT - 05/08/2019 20:05:50
Excellent speaker: clear, direct, and helpful. Handout is a concise marvel.
Hydrangeas demystified
Jennifer Dossin from New York City - 04/29/2019 11:16:38
Lorraine clearly knows and loves hydrangeas--and has a gifted teacher's ability to communicate so much about varieties, their care, and cultural requirements. Her book, "Success with Hydrangeas", is an excellent companion that keeps me mindful of all I learned at her workshop.
Foolproof Hydrangeas
Tony Spinelli from CT - 04/24/2019 16:10:27
Lorraine Ballato was an excellent speaker and provided a wealth of information on foolproof hydrangeas and their care through a beautiful presentation of their many varieties.