Red roses and white lilies galore: Flowers in fine form at the Kentucky Derby

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Red roses and white lilies galore: Flowers in fine form at the Kentucky Derby

May 02, 2008

Louisville must be buzzing right now, in more ways than one, with no shortage of mint juleps in town. ;) A 3-year-old filly named Proud Spell won the $500,000 Kentucky Oaks on Friday at Churchill Downs. Eight Belles, a filly with the same trainer (Larry Jones) will run the Derby on Saturday. No trainer has won the Oaks and the Derby in the same year since 1952.

The Kentucky Derby is also known as the Run for the Roses, since the winning horse is adorned with a blanket made of the regal red flowers, known as the Garland of Roses (shown in picture below). Not quite as well known but also pretty amazing is the Kentucky Oaks Garland (Lilies for the Fillies) that is awarded to the Kentucky Oaks winner.

Kentucky Derby Garland of Roses

Here are a few facts about the floral creations, supplied by Kroger Corp. (Thanks to Kroger's Bev Markwell for the facts and photo.)

• The red Freedom rose is the variety used for the Garland of Roses. There are 426 roses in the actual blanket with 12 in each of the fronds on the side. The crown in the center contains a rose for each horse that is running in the race.

• Each rose inserted into the blanket has its own water vial hidden inside the lining.

• The Garland of Roses is 2.5 yards long, 14 inches wide and weighs about 40 pounds.

• The winning jockey is presented with the Jockey’s Bouquet, made of 60 matching long-stem roses wrapped with 10 yards of ribbon.

• Lilies for the Fillies is made up of 133 white stargazer lilies with a burst of magenta. The garland is trimmed in a border of oak ivy leaves. White-tipped caspia and plumosa leaves are also used.

• Lilies for the Fillies is 18 inches wide, 116 inches long and weighs about 19 pounds.

• About 70 people work on the garlands from beginning to end. They start working on the fabric backgrounds in February, but most of the work is done on Derby week.

• Floral designers also decorate the great urns in the Winner’s Circle at Churchill Downs.

Flower Fact of the Day: “Flower Hunters,” a new book by Mary Gribbin and John Gribbin (Oxford University Press), tells a compelling story of how flowers were acquired from foreign shores and brought back to Britain. Find out more at: oup.co.uk.

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