Speakers announced for CT Flower & Garden Show

HARTFORD — The 41st Connecticut Flower & Garden Show opens Thursday and continues to Sunday at the Connecticut Convention Center, 100 Columbus Boulevard.

New England’s only 2023 flower exhibition show covers almost two acres, and will offer ideas for house, apartment, and condo dwellers. “Gateway to Spring” is the theme of this year’s show that features more than a dozen expansive live gardens in full bloom, a nonstop schedule of seminars and demonstrations, the Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut’s annual Standard Flower Show, and hundreds of vendors displaying and selling all types of items.

More than 25 horticulture and gardening experts

will present a variety of topics, totaling over 80 hours during the four-day event. Attendance at these programs is included in the general admission, and questions are welcomed by the speakers. The following is the list of speakers and topics and also is posted at www.CTFlowerShow.com:

Lorraine Ballato: Easy Breezy Plants; and Shady

Characters; Ruth Bennett: Irises New Introductions & Interspecies Crosses; Pamm Cooper: Good Bug, Bad Bug, or Benign Bug?; Rich Cowles: Climate Change & Impact on Rose Culture; Christine Darnell: Radically Re-thinking Garden Design; Nancy DuBrule-Clemente: Native and Non-Native Plants for Sustainable Landscapes; and

Curb Appeal for Pollinator Gardens; Kim Eierman: Pollinator Victory Gardens with Native Plants; Unlocking the Mysteries of Native Plant Selection; Dr. Nick Goltz: House Plant Diagnostics; Len Giddix: The Reflection in Your Garden; Larry Huzi: Spring Floral Designs with PAZAZZ!; Trish Manfredi: Easy Creative Floral Designs; Laurie

Masciandaro: Connecticut’s Historic Gardens.

Also, Owen McLaughlin: Introduction to Rhododendrons & Azaleas; Kerry Ann Mendez: Gardening Simplified; and Hydrangeas Demystified; Jana Milbocker: Gardens of the Gilded Age; and Artists Gardens in New England; Amanda Morris: Gardening With Chickens; Charlie Nardozzi: No Dig Gardening; Ellen Ecker Ogden: 6 Steps to a Successful Kitchen Garden Design; Dawn Pettinelli: Successful Seed Starting; Peter Picone: Ways to Create & Enhance Wildlife Habitat in Your Surroundings, One Native Plant at a Time; Paul Split: Organic Container Gardening; Diane St. John: Every Yard Matters — How to Create a Healthy Monarch Butterfly Habitat at Home; Rob Townsend: Water Garden

Basics; George Trecina: A Tree For Every Yard; and Embracing Volunteer Seedlings & Aggressive Plants; Dennis Tsui: Low Light Houseplants; and Steve Walowski: Organics 101 — An Organic Approach To Lawn Care.

Returning this year is the popular Barnes & Noble Center, selling flower, plant, and garden books, including those written by the show’s seminar speakers.

Discounted tickets, at $17 for Adults & Seniors are on sale now at www.CTFlowerShow.com and can be purchased online through the last day of the show. Tickets at the door are $20 for adults and seniors, $5 for children 5-12, and free under age 5. For general information or to become an exhibitor, visit www.CTFlowerShow.com or Facebook, or call 860-844-8461.

Federated Garden Clubs/Contributed photos Speakers Nancy Dubrule-Clemente, left; Paul Nardozzi and Paul Split are appearing at the Connecticut Flower & Garden Show, set for Thursday through Sunday at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford.