Natalie's Everyday Heroes: Rose Innovations creating roses for everyone
GREENFIELD, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Tucked away in a Greenfield neighborhood is an amazing garden a lot of people may not know about.
At any time, it's home to about 3,500 different rose plants.
It's called Rose Innovations. Owner Will Radler has been cultivating roses since he was a kid. Through decades of work, he's revolutionized the industry.
There are vibrant blooms in red, yellow, and orange as far as the eye can see.
Will Radler
We’ve all heard the advice to stop and smell the roses but there, that’s just part of the job.
"You catch the bug of growing roses," Radler said.
It's a bug Radler caught when he was just a kid.
"My mother had me weeding her garden at age 3," he remembered.
And it stuck. At age 9, he started growing his own roses.
"Somewhere between 16 and 18, I had 150, approximately, roses in my parents' backyard," he said.
That passion grew. He now oversees his team of employees at Rose Innovations in Greenfield.
"We breed world-class roses," he said, showing us around.
The most famous, and the one that started it all -- the Knock Out Rose, which was introduced in 2000.
"The chart of success was phenomenal. No rose in history ever sold as many roses as Knock Out did," Radler said.
Radler's Knock Out roses are bred for hardiness, blooms and disease resistance -- qualities that were put to the test during last August's historic flood.
"It was catastrophic," said Alex Mojica.
Mojica, the aquatics manager, remembers getting the call.
"From the front of the house, just about everything down the hill and the roadway was under water," he said.
Eight-to-ten feet of water covered the property for five days.
Looking at the before and after photos, it's hard to believe.
"The garden has bounced back quite beautifully," Mojica said.
As have Radler's fishponds on the grounds.
There are fish friendly enough to swim right through your fingers.
For Mojica, taking care of all of this is a dream job.
"So, they say that you never work a day in your life then, right?" he said.
And around the property, the work continues. Each carefully covered flower could be the next rose innovation.
"That is protecting the new cross that we are making," Mojica said of each bud carefully covered in aluminum foil.
"I never dreamed that I would be sharing this on a large scale," Radler said.
Radler's work, rooted in decades of experience, bringing the joy of roses to everyone.
"You have no idea how great this makes me feel," he said.
It takes 11 years to get a new rose to market.
Radler says he has high hopes for another rose in the Knock Out rose, called the Orange Glow Knock Out. Rose Innovations also hosts events that are open to the public if you'd like to go and see the roses for yourself.
For more information, click here.
If you'd like to nominate an Everyday Hero, send Natalie a message at [email protected].