“We babysit those roses up until Friday: grading them, checking them, separating them to get the best. And then that Friday we attach the first rose at 4 o’clock.”
Bio:
Garland-maker extraordinaire. Manager of the Kroger Floral Center in Louisville.
Title:
Master Florist
Location:
Buechel
Contact:
How did you get started as a maker?
Actually, I was thrown into it to be honest. I just celebrated 38 years with Kroger Company. In the early years of that, I worked on the front end, no flowers involved. I worked in the office, as a cashier, and then in the produce department. Through the years, when Kroger wanted to initiate fresh-cut flowers in the produce department, they approached me, since I was already in produce. They wanted to know if I would take care of the flowers.
I was a baby, so I said, “Well, OK, sure. I’ll do it.” [At that time], it was pretty much potted plants coming in. I’d water them and everything. Eventually they got a single desk and a Tudor fresh-cut that had pre-made flowers coming in. It kept evolving and growing and growing. You pretty much learn as you go along…That’s how I got into working with fresh-cut flowers. You start with the flowers and eventually customers come up and say, “Can you make so and so?”
And you go “OK.” You just figure it out.
What we have here at my Kroger is a design center where we do big events, weddings, and we take on all kinds of challenges. Someone wanted a sympathy piece – they wanted an easel that represented a motorcycle and a guitar because the deceased was a guitar player. So I made the easel to resemble a guitar and it turned out great. It was taller than I was! I had just started. I was a baby then. But it was beautiful.
What do you think is the busiest day: Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, or Derby?
Valentine’s. Most of it’s in-house. For me, personally, it’s Valentine’s. When it comes to Derby, it’s a totally different picture because it takes in a lot of off-site.
Derby is big. Kroger contracts every year to get people to work together on the Derby garland. I’m the lead designer and spokesperson. As far as Derby is involved here, we take on the challenge of decorating the airport every year too…That corridor in the airport with the moving pedway – we go out and create humongous, big arrangements that are all down that corridor and also up at the top of the escalator.
Carol Belser
Photos by Amber Garvey/Kertis Creative.
Do you have any idea how many flowers you use?
Hmmm. I have to start planning that pretty soon. I don’t know exactly, but you get a feel for it over the years. And we always have a Plan B.
Have you ever had to rely on your Plan B?
Yes. Yes, but that was mainly with the Oaks garland. It was the very first – the first Oaks race. It was the year that MC Hammer’s horse won. We’d never done it before. We learned a lot from it. But it was a good thing we had backup lilies for the garland.
We also have to have extra flowers ready anyway, just in case someone wants to make the front page by sabotaging the garland as we’re making it or something like that.
Has that ever happened before?
No, but you have to be prepared for anything! You just never know…But we’d be ready because we always have backups.
We’ll be making the rose garland and the Oaks garland at the Middletown Kroger. In the past, Kroger has always chosen a different community, a different store each year, whether it be the East End, Southside, you know. They always chose different ones so different communities would have a chance to come out and view it. In the past, I’d say, seven years, they’ve kept it predominantly in Middletown, Stonybrook, and the Hubbards Lane Kroger because those stores have the most floor space for us to utilize and for the public to come in and view it.
Do you make the garland the day before?
We make the Derby garland on Friday.
That means you never get to go to Oaks. Do you get to go to The Derby?
Yes. When we present the garland to Churchill Downs on Derby morning at 11 o’clock, we put it on display in the paddock area so spectators can come through and look at it. And we’re out there to answer questions for those who are interested. We keep it on display for three hours and then we take it behind the scenes until it’s getting close to the actual running of The Derby.
Do you keep it refrigerated?
Well, we’ve made some changes in the carrier. In the past, we had a black lacquer box, specially made, and then a lot of the spectators said, “What have you all got in there, a dead horse?” Because the box is way long, as long as the garland itself. So we sort of changed that to a see-through acrylic with glass trim. So now they can see what’s inside. We’ve learned a lot through the years.
We do put ice packs underneath. One year we were out in the paddock area under the sun, right there where Secretariat is, and the sun was just beaming down. And it cooked that garland under the glass.
You never know what kind of weather you’re going to get on Derby.
Right. It’s unpredictable. So now they give us a place underneath that shelter in the paddock area because you just never know what kind of weather to expect.
How many hours do you think you all spend making the garland?
Well, the backing has been made. It’s created now. It’s not completed, but it’s already in the process. A lot of detail goes into it – you just would not believe. And then for the actual Derby roses, they come in that Monday of Derby week. We babysit those roses up until Friday: grading them, checking them, separating them to get the best. And then that Friday we attach the first rose at 4 o’clock. We hope to be finished up at midnight. Sometimes it’s 11; sometimes it’s 1 o’clock in the morning. It depends on how things go.
When we finish up the garland on location, we clean up, pack up all of our supplies, extra roses and everything. We bring them back to the work center, which is the Kroger catering center over on Westport Road. We use their reception hall for behind-the-scenes production. That’s where we have two semis. One semi has the lilies and one has the roses.
I guess it’s about 1 o’clock in the morning when we arrive back there. We unload the van, eat a doughnut and drink some coffee, sit down, and then at 4 a.m. we’re reloading the van. We don’t go home. We load the van with everything that’s needed to go back out to Churchill Downs that morning to decorate the winner’s circle.
There are six pedestals in the winner’s circle and there’s an urn in the center. We decorate that presentation area that morning and we have to be out of there before 7 o’clock. So we actually have to get out there and get unloaded and everything – we have about 40 minutes. We have a team of people out there then.
One morning it might be a beautiful, beautiful, sunny – well, the sun’s not out when we get there – but then we’ve had some terrible rains, some downpours. I’d say, out of those 24 years, we’ve had about half and half. Last year was a terrible downpour. The water was so bad that you’re wet underneath your rain gear.
What do you do if it hails?
We’ll be out there in that too. That’s happened. I guess maybe four years ago the rain was so bad that it did tear up the flowers. We knew we were going to have to go back and fix them. Now we take extra roses when you go back out there at presentation time.
While the other races are being ran, we’ll have an escort take us across the track so we can tend to the roses. We pull out roses that have gotten weary because we want it to look excellent right before the main event.
I don’t think people have any idea how much work goes into this.
Last year we took extra clothes, scruffy clothes, to go across the track, because you never know what sort of shape it’s going to be in. And we got behind the bushes and while the other races are being ran we’re spritzing the roses and pulling out the wilted ones.
After all the work is done, do you go straight home and rest or do you participate in the festivities a bit?
In the past years, when Tony Terry was general manager, he allowed us to go over to the presentation area during presentation time. So we were able to stand there near the owners and everybody at the time when the trophy is being awarded. That was a really, really high moment for all of us. It really was. He let us do that two years straight. We haven’t had that opportunity again yet, but it was something to remember.
You should get free tickets to Millionaire’s Row.
Well, sometimes we get a box. That’s nice.
a bit of trivia:
Belser uses the same number of roses in the crown at the top of the garland as there are horses running in The Derby.
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