Ken is an entertaining and knowledgeable speaker
on several subjects horticultural
Ken Brown is a frequent speaker at gardening events and garden club meetings. His presentations are first and foremost, entertaining because he understands that people will remember the ideas that are presented in a lively and humorous manner.
Contact him here for availabilty and rates. See the list below for the presentations that are available.
Angela From Schomberg H.S.
Your energy, your passion, your knowledge, your good humour were a
welcome kickoff to our first meeting this year. Thank you so much for a wonderful presentation. Our
members loved it!
From the Creemore H.S. "Many of our members have commented enthusiastically to me. You might be happy to hear that your presentation is definitely in the running for THE BEST presentation our Horticulture Society has ever experienced. We hope that we will be able to capture you again some time. " and "It was a wonderful and inspirational hour and I speak for many of us veggie fans when I say we could have listened to you easily for another hour!"
Michelle - City of Pickering " I still have staff and Pickering residents telling me how much they enjoyed the vertical vegetables presentation this past spring. Many Pickering staff are growing vegetables for the first time, including me!"
Etobicoke Horticultural Society "Your presentation probably had more useful information per minute than any we have ever heard!"
Upcoming Speaking Engagements
Here is a list of my upcoming speaking engagements. Thankfully we are now back to doing in person talks. Zoom is still available to overcome long distances.
10 September 2024 Ajax Library "Autumn Gardening "
18 September 2024 R of Durham "Autumn Gardening
24 September 2024 Bronte H.S. "3+1 Tenors"
25 September 2024 Aurora G&H.S. "Garden to Bed"
15 October 2024 Lindsay H.S. "3+1 Tenors"
21 October 2024 Oro Medonte H.S. "Beginning a Veg garden"
15 November 2024 Garden Hamilton "3+1 Tenors"
20 January 2025 Lambeth H.S. "Vertical Vegetables"
15 April 2025 E. Gwillimbury Gardeners "Vertical Vegetables"
17 April 2025 Orillia H.S "TBA"
06 May 2025 Wasaga Beach G.C. "3+1 Tenors"
15 May 2025 Bobcaygeon H.S. "Amazing Annuals"
25 August 2025 Markham G.C. "Garden to Bed"
Ken's Great Presentations
Garden Seduction
A general interest presentation where Ken allows his passion for all things horticultural to flow out to his audience. With anecdotes, facts, a wealth of experience and a generous sprinkling of humour, Ken entices even the blackest of thumbs to want to go out into the garden and partake of all of its benefits and pleasures. Participation in things horticultural can have positive benefits in so many aspects of our lives and Ken enthusiastically identifies and demonstrates how we can all improve those lives by spending some time Dallying in the Dirt.
Vertical Vegetables
A presentation aimed at home owners and balcony dwellers who have a hankering for the taste of a fresh vine ripened tomato. Drawing on his years of experience growing a wide range of vegetables under various conditions, Ken enthusiastically draws people out of their living rooms and into their yards and shows them how they can grow amazing things in tiny spaces. Ken tosses out the normal concept of a vegetable garden and demonstrates how the colours and textures of food producing plants can also add to the aesthetic appeal of a garden. Ken employs a range of innovative, yet simple and inexpensive, ways to utilize the vertical space above our gardens to multiply the quantity and range of tasty foods that we can grow.
Putting The Garden To Bed.
An informative and entertaining look at the autumn gardening season, where Ken outlines the many enjoyable activities that engage him in the garden as the weather cools and the days grow shorter. Bountiful harvests, new plantings, fresh blooms, the excitement of bulb planting and eventually the preparation for winter’s blanket of snow.
Spring Flowers
We all admire a hillside filled, in the spring, with a host of waving daffodils. We all yearn for a tiny crocus to bloom through the snow to indicate that Maywinter is finally leaving the land. There is a tremendous range of spring flowers that grow from fall planted bulbs and Ken walks you through the springtime calendar revealing how his garden blazes with four months of colour from a couple of autumn weekends spent Dallying in the Dirt. Ken’s back remembers planting several thousand bulbs in his gardens over the years and he humorously infects all of his audience with his enthusiasm for this amazing group of flowers.
Growing Plants From Seed
In this presentation Ken draws the average gardener deeper into the joys of horticulture. Everyone who has ever wished for a wider range of flowers and vegetables to plant into their garden will find the answer to their dilemma by perusing the seed racks and catalogues. Ken removes the mystery of starting your own plants from seed by revealing the tips and tricks that horticulturists use to successfully turn a packet of dry, lifeless appearing, seeds into healthy young transplants for our spring gardens. A lifetime of successes and not a few failures have left Ken with host of interesting and often humourous anecdotes and ideas that will have his audience rushing to their basement light tables to Dally in the Dirt in the dead of winter.
The Three + 1 Tenors
Iris, Peony, Daylily and Lily are the four powerful perennials that should be the backbone of any perennial garden. Ken usually has at least a hundred Iris varieties in his garden and he allows several of the other three some of the left over room. There is no doubt in Ken’s mind that the Iris is the Queen of the perennial garden with its fabulous blooms but they do not last forever and their foliage is not their best feature. By adding Peonies and Daylilies to his garden Ken extends the flowering season and introduces some other colours and foliage. In this presentation, methods of propagation and planting, and a look at the care and feeding of these wonderful plants, are sprinkled through an overview of their amazing range of sizes, colours and textures as Ken humorously shares with his audience, his enthusiasm and affection for these horticultural delights.
Awesome Annuals
Annual flowers are a great addition to any garden. There are so many new varieties and types that we can use to create all season colour in the garden. Whether it is a blast of a single block of colour or a kaleidoscope of colours. They can also be combined to give great variations in texture and or height to create beds with amazing interest. Tall unusual ones such as Verbena bonariensis can also be used as filler in perennial beds to provide colour during the perennials quiet time. They are, of course the go to flowers for a variety of containers.
Garden Design
A garden should seduce you and draw you into it’s deeper reaches with the promise of discovering its innermost secrets. Ken’s years of planning gardens large and small make this presentation of great interest to all gardeners. A garden is never finished and everyone is looking for ways to add interest and excitement to their own little space. Ken uses his enthusiasm and humour to suggest new planning insights, and tips and tricks that everyone can use to turn their gardens, new or old, into more interesting and seductive spaces.
There are no House Plants
Ken uses his years of experience in the indoor landscaping business to illustrate that a knowledge of a plant’s natural habitat, (and that’s never indoors,) is beneficial when trying to make that plant thrive, or at least survive, in our homes. Understanding the role of light and water and the recognizing of a variety of pests are the essential elements which Ken illustrates to help his audience become
happier indoor plant parents.
Shade gardening
The Impatiens have disappeared and the Begonias have arrived. Gardening in the shade has become more important as the density of our housing creates more shady spots in our gardens. Ken will guide you through the many wonderful plants that are available to brighten that shady spot in your yard. Bright flowers, amazing foliage and even a few vegetables are happy to thrive those darker corners. The amazing diversity of Begonias alone, could keep a gardener happy in their shady corners for many years. Both annuals and perennials are on Ken’s list of shady stars that can enhance the cool relaxed feel of a shady spot or brighten it up. Learn to see shade as an ally instead of a problem when planning your garden.
Shrubs and their effective use in the landscape.
A shrub is defined as any plant with above ground woody branches that easily survive winter conditions. They are usually multi stemmed and relatively short growing. They may be either evergreen or deciduous and should provide a year round presence in the garden. Many of the deciduous shrubs provide a significant floral display at some point during the growing season.
Dallying In The Dirt
Regular Tips and Smiles from Ken’s Gardening Activities
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