Churchill Downs Greenhouse team races to finish line

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Wake up and smell the roses — and the tulips and the geraniums — at Churchill Downs. Those are just a few of the roughly 100 plant varieties used at the track and they are all homegrown right outside of the track's gates at the Churchill Downs Greenhouses.

"We grow about 20,000 plants. We will plant about 15,000 for Derby Day," said Matt Bizzell, director of horticulture at Churchill Downs. "The extra 5,000 or so that are leftover, those are for replanting things that get damaged on Derby."

Bizzell manages a team of nine hard workers who seem to be busiest the few weeks before Derby.

"Spring is a wonderful time of year to be here," Bizzell said. "There are so many people working to make Derby happen. The energy that's here — that is probably my favorite time of year."

The energy is high and the pressure is on as the team races to the finish line to get everything planted before opening day, which is the Saturday before Derby.

Bizzell said the plants they use come in during the first couple months of the year. Those plants start tiny, and Bizzell and his team work to plant them in the greenhouse and grow them up until Derby time. That is when they take almost everything out of the greenhouse and to the track.

"There's a lot of waiting until the last minute and hoping we have a good forecast," Bizzell said.

The weather can make or break Bizzell, especially if there is a late frost.

"The weather is definitely our biggest challenge," he said. "We can have a frost on Derby day. We put out a lot of tender annuals like coleus and cannas that if they get a frost it really takes the color out of them."

With that in mind, Bizzell and his crew use the couple weeks before Derby to fill places like the Paddock and Aristides Garden. Their most iconic work, though, can be seen every single year after the Run for the Roses.

"The Kentucky Derby Winner's Circle as long as I've been here, it's red geraniums," he said.

The horseshoe of flowers surrounds the winning horse, its jockey, the horse's many owners and trainer for the winning picture.

"Whenever I see old photos of Derby and a lot of people are looking at the horses and the people in the videos," Bizzell said. "I'm looking at the flowers and thinking about what we did."

IMAGES | The colorful flowers of Churchill Downs

Bizzell said it is incredible to be a small part of history every year. However, that area can sometimes be their biggest challenge. He said depending on the size of the group in the Winner's Circle, many years the flowers get trampled and need completely redone. That is why Bizzell grows about 800 red geraniums, which is about double what they actually need.

"Derby week is very difficult," Bizzell said.

The team at the greenhouse has to get pretty much everything planted before Derby week because racing starts Tuesday and they have little time to fix any flowerbeds.

"In the morning, we'll water and fix anything that gets broken," Bizzell said. "Throughout the day, we'll work on the outside of the property if there's any last minute plantings that need to be done."

Along with keeping up with all of the planted flowers, the group is also in charge of keeping the grounds clean. After each race day during Derby week, they hit the parking lots — one of which is 22 acres — and pick up trash.

Once Oaks and Derby finally arrives, the team not only picks up trash at the end of the day. But during the day, they work on the track helping with things like the starting gate. Bizzell gives all of the credit to his team for keeping the track beautiful.

"The men and women that do all of the work here is really amazing," Bizzell said. "My crew, some of them have been here for 25 years in the greenhouse, and they're just incredibly hard workers and they really make the place shine."

And don't think their work is finished once Derby arrives. The greenhouse team keeps the flowers groomed through the spring meet. Then they replant in the fall.