Gazebo Garden remembering Fresno’s friendliest florist
FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – The Gazebo Gardens’s nursery in Central Fresno will be hosting a memorial service for a man who worked at the gardens for over 30 years.
Bill Welzenbach was a renowned Consulting Rosarian Emeritus with the American Rose Society responsible for countless gardens throughout Fresno and the Central Valley.
One of his most noticeable contributions in Fresno is the Fig Garden Village.
Gazebo Gardens Owner Scott Miller says Welzenbach was integral to the community and the culture at Gazebo Gardens.
“Here at Gazebo Gardens, he was kind of the North Star,” Miller said. “He had an amazing ethic for always wanting to do things right, always wanting to bring the community into it.”
Miller says he can still remember when he first met Welzenbach.
Miller was a 16-year-old kid with his license, his first truck, and a landscaping business.
He says a client sent him to Gazebo Gardens for some roses and told him to talk to Bill Welzenbach specifically.
“It would have been like April,” Miller said. “Bill was really busy, there were people wanting to talk to him.”
Miller says when he finally had a chance to speak with Welzenbach, he was intimidated by the man’s stature.
“Mr. Welzenbach,” he said, “I just need five or six of the best roses you have.”
Miller says that’s when Welzenbach turned to him and said, “They’re all good, just pick one and tell her I told you.”
Miller also says that Welzenbach completely denied or had no recollection of the interaction.
“Oh, I would never have said that,” Welzenbach said, according to Miller.
Whether Miller’s or Welzenbach’s recollection was incorrect, Miller says Welzenbach had countless stories just like that one, and Welzenbach made an impression on everyone he met because he went out of his way to do so.
Welzenbach had no family in Fresno, only his partner Bob Cotter. But Miller says his family became Welzenbach’s surrogate family.
“He spent most Christmases with us,” Miller said. “My children, you know, called him grandpa.”
Peter Robertson a close friend of both Miller and Welzenbach is also planning the memorial. He says he jumped at the opportunity to honor the man who inspired him up until his last days.
Robertson says he can still remember being at Fresno State with Miller and making bags of “Bill’s Rose Formula,” for their marketing class, putting Welzenbach’s likeness on their project, and still selling it at Gazebo Gardens today.
The remembrance service will be on Sunday, June 2, at 10 a.m. and will be open to the public for everyone to hear about the legacy of Fresno’s friendliest florist.
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