While waiting for the Preakness post time, I started wondering about the flower garlands that adorn the winners of the Triple Crown races (and their filly counterparts). Each of the races features an amazing flower garland to honor the winners. But who makes them?

Surprisingly, they are not made by a specialty flower shop. Nope. The garlands for the Derby and the Preakness are made at local grocery stores.

The first rose garland for the Kentucky Derby was awarded in 1896, when a pink-and-white arrangement was given to winner Ben Brush. The Derby made the red rose its official flower in 1904 and 21 years later, sports columnist Bill Corum nicknamed the race the “Run for the Roses.” It wasn’t until 1932, that garland in its current configuration was introduced. Before this, winners were often handed a horseshoe of roses in the winner’s circle.

For the Kentucky Derby, the blanket of roses is designed and fabricated by flower designers at Krogers. It’s a massive effort. It takes almost a dozen master florists and many volunteers almost 12 hours to fabricate the blanket of roses, which is 122 inches long, 22 inches wide and forty pounds! The team hand selects more than 400 roses, which are individually sewn onto the backing. Each rose has its own vial of water to keep it fresh. And they are not just any roses. These are “Freedom Roses” which are Rainforest Alliance Certified, grown without agrochemicals, in locations where soils, waterways and wildlife habitat is protected, and where farm workers are well paid and supported.

The finished garland is displayed at the Kroger’s store first, then gets a police escort to Churchill Downs, where it’s displayed for viewing and guarded by the U.S. Navy until it is presented to the winning horse and jockey.

The garland of lilies presented to the winner of the Kentucky Oaks is also made by Krogers.

The Preakness

The blanket of “Black-eyed Susans” was first presented to the Preakness winner in the late 1930s. Although the Black-eyed Susan is the Maryland state flower, they are unfortunately not in bloom in time for the races. For a long time the garland was made of yellow daisies, their centers painted black to resemble the state flower. These days, the wreaths are made using the Viking Pom, which is a yellow flower with a brown center.

For the Preakness and the Black Eyed Susan Stakes, the garlands are made by a local Giant supermarket. Although the blanket is smaller than the one for the Kentucky Derby — a 90 by 18 inches — it takes ten times more flowers than the Derby blanket because the flowers are smaller. A wire is inserted into the cut stem of each flower and it is then attached to black matting, which is backed with green felt so the wires do not injure the winning horse. Each blanket incorporates nearly 2,000 flowers and takes five in-store florists roughly six hours to complete.

The Belmont Stakes

White carnations are used to make the flower blanket for the winner of the Belmont Stakes. Because of the time of year, the Belmont is held, carnations aren’t readily available in New York. The flowers used for the winner’s blanket are imported from Columbia, and occasionally California.

The 40-pound blanket is made annually by New York Racing Association florist Tony Green, who glues each of the carnations to seven yards of green velvet cloth. Green says it takes him about five hours to make the blanket – which he assembles on race day after soaking the stems for two days. Green also makes a second blanket that is draped over the Secretariat statue at Belmont.