In the lead-up to the Fourth of July, a brigade of Vail staff members work to bring splashes of color to the Vail and Lionshead villages. It takes around six weeks for the town to plant the nearly 20,000 flowers and greenery in nearly 200 different flowerbeds throughout town. For the many visitors and residents of Vail, the vibrant florals and colorful blooms are a sign of the summer.
Bringing them to town is a process that takes science and creativity. Finding the right percentage of petunias, begonias, dahlias and others, the right amount of reds, pinks, whites and greens, and balancing that with weather, timing and botany is “all part of the equation,” said Todd Oppenheimer, Vail’s capital project manager. In total, the town will plant around 80 different plant and floral species cultivated by a grower in Fort Collins.
Oppenheimer described himself as “one small cog in the wheel of things that happen” to bring flowers to town in the summer. The flower program itself is run by Hannah Sorensen, who serves as Vail’s flower crew supervisor and lead designer. Sorensen’s mother, Cindy, previously held the role when she was pregnant with her.
Planting and maintaining the flowers and town greenery takes 12 members of the town’s flower crew and 19 members of its park crew. While the crews begin planting in the weeks after Mother’s Day and before the Fourth of July (weather dependent), the summer flower program kicks off each September for the next year. “ A grou.
