Las Vegas horticulturist found ‘dream job’ in Bellagio Conservatory

Five times a year, Jerry Bowlen’s staff moves 60,000 to 80,000 plants and an additional 35,000 flowers for topiaries into the Bellagio Conservatory.

“This is a dream job for me,” said Bowlen, the executive director of horticulture for the Bellagio, 3600 Las Vegas Blvd. South. “It allows me to be creative in a lot of different ways.”

The latest creation is set to open at 5 p.m. Dec. 2 and feature winter and holiday themes. The display changes for each season, as well as Chinese New Year. The winter display is only up for a month or so and draws about 25,000 visitors daily. The conservatory typically sees about 18,000 daily visitors.

Bowlen oversees more than 120 employees who not only deal with the conservatory but the plants surrounding the Bellagio, MGM Grand and The Mirage. He said that there is little turnover in his department.

“It’s a good job,” gardener Jose Cervantes said. “The plants need to be taken care of and watered, and we switch out the flowers that are wilting. It’s nice to see the people enjoying it.”

The displays include large props, which have to be broken down to be moved through the halls. Each display requires the design of plant and flower beds and topiaries.

“It keeps us pretty busy,” Bowlen said. “We do all of the design work in-house. We bid out the different props to local vendors and some out-of-state vendors. The install takes six days. We usually start at 12:01 a.m. Sunday and are finished and open at 5 p.m. on Friday.”

They have a large list of plant suppliers, but the biggest is in southern Utah. All new plants spend two weeks in an off-site warehouse that acts as a staging area and quarantine. They’re sprayed to ensure they’re not carrying pests. The warehouse is also where the staff creates the floral arrangements for all properties.

“Most of the props are reusable and we can add on to them,” Bowlen said. “For instance, last year we had just the trunk of a tree. This year, we put the branch across the top to form an arch. We put the old water mill up but left off the water wheel. We added this branch and fountain feature with the water dropping from leaf to leaf.”

Bowlen and his staff expect two to four weeks of use from flowering plants and two to three months from large foundation plants and trees. All of it requires daily upkeep and maintenance, but they feel the effect is worth it.

“My favorite part of the job is being able to create an environment that our guests enjoy,” Bowlen said. “We take a lot of pride in doing the different shows that we do. When we open up and we see all of the people totally amazed by what we do, it’s inspiring.”

To reach East Valley View reporter F. Andrew Taylor email ataylor@viewnews.com or call 702-380-4532.