photo: Josh Merideth
Sure, we all recognize certain familiar things about the Kentucky Derby (the horses! the juleps! the hats! the seersucker!), even if we’ve only ever watched the Run for the Roses through a television or tablet. But part of the pageantry of the day also comes from the majestic architecture of Churchill Downs and the unending sea of flowers in and around every event leading up to the most famous two minutes in sports.
Director of horticulture Matt Bizzell is the man behind it all. For months, he and his team quietly tend thousands of specimens for planting in nearby greenhouses. And then the rollout begins: Five thousand burgundy lace tulips in the Aristides Garden (named after the first Derby winner), a giant four-panel living wall at the track, not to mention all the hanging baskets, planters, and beds that can be found throughout the grounds.