Milwaukee employees prepare spring flowers at city nursery



FRANKLIN (WITI) -- Turning seeds into beautiful flowers takes a lot of work, know how, and time. That's why Milwaukee employees started the planting process in February.

"We've probably got a thousand different seeds, different plants going at any one time," Milwaukee Nursery and Greenhouse Manager Todd Statzer said.

In the next five weeks, nursery specialists will plant more than 100,000 seeds. To speed up the process, they use a machine made by a Milwaukee company called Growing Systems.

They also just began using a new watering system, with what they call a fogger nozzle. Sprinkler heads could be a little too rough on the seeds, but the nozzle sprays a light mist over the growing plants.

"We put them up thinking let's experiment. They worked wonderfully. It's much finer water, it's much more even spread of water, no dislodging anymore," Statzer said.

Along with beautifying the city, nursery officials say these plants cleanse the air and even help deter crime.

"Because people are interested in making sure that their areas stay nice and they've done research on this and found it drops it by 10 to 15 percent," Statzer said.

All of the flowers will distributed throughout the Greater Milwaukee Area in May.