Meet the Grower Behind the Plants at One Cincinnati Conservatory

Posted by Brian Sparks|December 8, 2023

Warder Nursery Horticulturalist Rachel Brucato (at right) raised all the flowers for the 2023 Krohn Conservatory holiday display with help from Krohn florist Thia Brooks. Photo: WVXU

Krohn Conservatory’s annual holiday display is a tradition in Cincinnati. From the train sets to the hundreds of poinsettias, the yuletide exhibit has been drawing and delighting visitors for decades. Preparations, however, begin in the summer.

“The poinsettias alone for the holiday show, I think we got 2,100,” estimates Rachel Brucato, a horticulturist with Cincinnati Parks. “That’s just one type of plant for the holiday show. All together we did about 8,000 plants for just one show.”

Brucato is basically a one-woman show at the moment while the department looks to hire a second employee. She runs Warder Nursery, a greenhouse operation owned by Cincinnati Parks in Springfield Township, OH. Built in 1931, this facility is responsible for growing the plants that rotate through Krohn Conservatory, while also supplying flowers to some of the city’s parks.

“The annuals are grown here for the shows that Krohn puts on — the spring show, summer show, and holiday show. We just wrapped up installing the holiday show at Krohn, and right now we’re getting started on the spring show,” Brucato says.