MACY'S GIVES A SCENT OF SPRING

MACY'S SECRET GARDEN

The complete transformation of the first floor at Macy's Herald Square into a secret garden is anything but a secret and I assume that's what was intended. The front of the store's display windows are treated as if it's Christmas where the displays are thematic rather than product driven.

In one window the undersea world is created with flowers viewed through the portals of a submergible ship. Schools of fish swim by in the background while coral reefs made of flowers line the floor of the ocean and reeds seem to sway with the current

Tropical forests and gardens from around the world are showcased in flowers like this Asian inspired view from a porch. The dwarf Japanese maples along with drooping willows create the garden's yin-yang of fire and serenity.

Talk about turning the world on its side, this window does just that so that as you look at it you get to see a patio garden from a bird's eye view. All the rooftops of Manhattan should be so well dressed.

The revolving doors at the front of the store usher you inside the secret garden where the Rose Queen of the realm spreads her arms in welcome from under a willow twig arch.

It's like the Rose Parade times ten as her spiral dress of ruby red roses serpentines around her lifting her above the crowds like an erupting volcano.

The aisles of the first floor drip with molten color spiked by pink-blossomed trees standing as sentries keeping watch over the Queen's garden.

Fuchsia orchids mingle with chartreuse hydrangeas and peach colored daisies making up the inhabitants of the harmonious garden.

Like in a Night at the Museum one can imagine all the flowers developing faces and running around on their tiny stems once the doors have been locked and the gates to the garden have been closed.

Each day of the show a new floral designer has sway with the center point of the floor creating a centerpiece of outrageous imagination.

On my day the designer made a tree of twigs spun with ferns, hot tangerines, cool purples and fluttering butterflies.

This was the first year in a while that the flower the Herald Square Macy's was moved back onto the floor. The last few years the show was shoved into a temporary structure that required waiting in line to tour the show. The shows were beautiful but I always felt the need to move through at a rapid pace so I wouldn't hold up the person behind me.

With the show back on the main floor you don't have to feel rushed and there are tons of opportunities to add your face to the photos of all the Asian tourists posing in front of the Michael Kors counter or by the Viktor&Rolf counter, one of the only counters to really get into the garden spring spirit.

With winter seeming to never end this year Macy's secret garden has truly been a spring breath of fresh air. The show runs March 22 to April 6. Indulge your senses; let your eyes drink in the color and your olfactory smell the bouquets of jasmine and hyacinth.
















THE GALLERY

Certosa di Pontiganano, Italy, 2000
Lynn Geesaman, photographer
Represented by Yancey Richardson Gallery