LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) – A Kentucky Derby tradition will be missing from the 138th Run for the Roses: tulips.
Our unusually warm winter weather nipped the spring-blooming perennial in the bud at Churchill Downs.
"The tulips aren't going to make it this year," Churchill Downs' director of horticulture Matt Bizzell said Tuesday.
Usually, between 6,000 and 12,000 tulips are showcased across Churchill Downs' 147-acre facility on Kentucky Derby week.
"Unfortunately, with all of this usually warm weather, the tulips will be blooming about three weeks from now, which is about two weeks early," Bizzell said.
The racetrack's flower beds won't be empty on Derby week. "We have 25,000 annuals that are growing in the Churchill Downs greenhouse right now," Bizzell said. "They'll go in place of the tulips and in all of the flower beds."
Bizzell said the Kentucky Derby's official flower should look better than ever this year. "Traditionally, the roses usually peak after Derby, but I'm hopeful they're going to peak right at Derby, which will be a nice change."
About 2,100 roses will dress the Kentucky Derby Winner's Circle on Derby Day, and about 250 rose bushes are scattered throughout the facility, according to Churchill Downs.
"(The weather's) been unbelieveable," said Bizzell, who has worked at the Downs for 14 years. "I can't remember a winter that was this warm."
WAVE 3 chief meteorologist Kevin Harned said there have been seven warmer winters in Louisville, with the winter of 2012 being the eighth warmest on record. "(We had) several record-breaking high temperatures during the final two weeks of winter, averaging 25 to 30 degrees above normal," Harned said. "We've had seven inches of measurable snowfall. By comparison, we had 17.4 inches through this date last year, which is a lot closer to the norm."
The 138th running of the $2 million Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands will be held on Saturday, May 5. The average temperature that date is 72 with an average low of 52.
Copyright 2012 WAVE News. All rights reserved.
(Source: Churchill Downs)
