Beautifying Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby requires year-round planning and foresight. (Photo by Eclipse Sportswire)

Across the street from the backside of Churchill Downs is another world under glass. The Churchill Downs Horticultural Center is known affectionately as “the greenhouse.” It is a 12,000-square-foot facility where beautiful plants are expertly nurtured year round to support the grandeur and glory of Churchill Downs.

The names of the plants are as exotic as the names of the Thoroughbreds who have raced throughout history. Redheads, cocktail vodkas, rattlesnakes, and the popular black pearl peppers are part of a diverse plan designed by the Churchill Downs Director of Horticulture Matt Bizzell.

Affable and gracious, Bizzell met with me in his office which is more like a command center for the greenhouse. Hoses and gardening equipment is stacked in easy to reach piles for quick disbursement. This is the week before the Kentucky Derby. He and his crew of seven are in high gear prepping Churchill Downs with plants and flowers so that it looks it’s very best for Derby week. It is a behemoth task when you realize that Churchill Downs covers almost 150 acres.

Bizzell started on the greenhouse crew after he graduated from college. Six years later, he was promoted to Assistant Director. Like a plant thriving in a perfect environment, Bizzell has been Director for the past six years. He and his crew maintain everything growing at Churchill Downs (except for the turf course which has its own crew). They handle the landscaping inside and outside the track building and also maintain the Central Avenue Expansion.  

It is with great pride that Bizzell talks about Central Avenue where he has planted a series of unusual trees. Every year, trees are initially purchased and showcased in containers throughout the courtyards of Churchill Downs. Bizzell carefully curates the selections which are then recycled the following year into the arboretum on Central Avenue. Some of his personal favorites are the Cascade Falls bald cypress and the European beech asplenifolia. 

Preparation for Derby week never ends and like all huge endeavors, it begins the day that the Derby is over. Churchill Downs is a year-round facility which features four months of horse racing, 10 months of training, and year-round entertainment through simulcasting and the Kentucky Derby Museum.

“There is always something we are looking forward to,” Bizzell says.

ENGLISH GARDEN AND STATUES

Photo courtesy of Julie June Stewart

They grow 24,000 annuals and purchase 1,000 trees, tropical plants and perennials. This takes a great deal of planning and strategy. Climate can factor heavily into their schedule, especially when planning for the first Saturday in May. They try to have everything in the ground by April 25, which includes the famous tulips surrounding the statues of Pat Dayand Aristides in the Churchill Downs garden off the paddock.

When working with plants, one must be patient. Some of them just can’t be rushed. Bizzell has a wonderful row of staghorn ferns mounted in large moss pots hanging in the greenhouse that are “for next year.” They are wild and primitive looking, and I can’t wait to see where they will be featured in the future. 

STAGHORN FERNS

Photo courtesy of Julie June Stewart

The Derby winner’s circle is planted every year with 400 traditional red geraniums in a horseshoe shape. Bizzell makes sure the geraniums are a true red, and not orange-red. There are two lovely Swiss stone pines framing the horseshoe, which has been repositioned to accommodate the large exuberant crowd that fills the winner’s circle after the Derby.

KENTUCKY DERBY WINNER'S CIRCLE

Photo by Eclipse Sportswire 

Derby week features two historically thematic races with a specific color scheme. The Kentucky Derby is an image forever entwined with red roses so the grounds are often highlighted with red flowers. The Kentucky Oaks features the lily and the color of pink is encouraged. It is a very delicate balance to maintain featuring a landscape of pinks and reds that do not clash. Bizzell is proud of the diversity of the plants and the unusual array of plants used throughout Churchill Downs. We stopped and looked at a large rex angel wing begonia and I admired the pink speckles throughout its magnificent leaves. 

I must admit that prior to talking with Bizzell, I didn’t know what a black pearl pepper was. I didn’t realize that I was seeing sweet potatoes, rhubarb,  Japanese umbrella pines,  philodendron selloums, cocktail vodka begonias, mona lavenders and strikingly beautifully patterned rattlesnake plants. I asked Bizzell to pose with one of his favorite plants in the greenhouse. After surveying the entire array of plants, I was curious what he was going to choose. He immediately chose a kangaroo paw fern and stood next to the ready reserve of red geraniums. He carefully lifted the fronds and showed me the “kangaroo paw.” 

BIZZELL AND THE KANGAROO PAW FERN

Photo courtesy of Julie June Stewart

Bizzell is a man of vision and one of the unsung heroes of the Kentucky Derby. Few will even realize what a masterpiece they are seeing when they are walking around Churchill Downs. I returned to the track and wandered the facility. Everywhere I looked, I could see the design and care that he and his crew put into the plants. It was as if a veil had been lifted from my vision.

I stopped and admired the array of plants in the brand new G.H. Mumms winner’s circle. I looked at each tree featured in the large containers in the courtyard. The more I walked around, the more I realized that the tasks that Bizzell and his crew face are huge and that their contributions create a lovely environment.

As I drove home for the evening, I sheepishly noticed (for the first time) Bizzell’s arboretum of trees on Central Avenue. It is an amazing collection. This beauty will be experienced by generations to come. People may not know who planted the trees and flowers but they will be grateful for their beauty and grandeur. There are many winners associated with the Kentucky Derby but not all of them wear roses. It is through the hard work and vision of Bizzell and his crew that Churchill Downs will continue to offer a trip to the beautiful, the uncommon and of course the grandeur of a winner’s circle.