Screen Shot 2013-03-28 at 9.41.47 AMThis year’s Macy’s Flower Show is a definite stunner to the senses. The theme is The Painted Garden and is inspired by the colorful, brilliant flowers, jewels and market hues of India and Southern Asia. For most Minnesotans like myself, who are literally starved of color right now, the rainbow hues of the Painted Garden offer a visual feast to our hungry eyes.

As you walk through the room, all at once you are at peace as you smell the fragrance of a thousand flowers. Gentle background music lightly hums in your ears, and the room is an elaborate display of colors ranging from a magnificent variety of tropical flowers to the brightly colored hanging umbrellas and gorgeous paintings along the walls.

I still can’t decide what my favorite flower or work of art is at the Painted Garden. But I’d have to vote either for the centerpiece of the show, the elaborate, exotic elephant sculpture which proudly wears a blanket made of 20 different species of dried and fresh plant material or the insanely surreal Phalaenopsis Blue Orchids which are out of this world.

Come, take a look for yourself at some of the gorgeous flowers that paint the 8th floor of Macy’s department store in downtown Minneapolis. You will not leave this post disappointed!

IMG_5561 IMG_5413 IMG_5415 IMG_5410 IMG_5409 IMG_5411 IMG_5414 IMG_5416 IMG_5417 IMG_5418 IMG_5419 IMG_5422 IMG_5423 IMG_5424 IMG_5429 IMG_5430 IMG_5436 IMG_5438 IMG_5444 IMG_5448 IMG_5449 IMG_5450 IMG_5456 IMG_5458 IMG_5461 IMG_5462 IMG_5463 IMG_5464 IMG_5466 IMG_5467 IMG_5474 IMG_5476 IMG_5477 IMG_5478 IMG_5479 IMG_5481 IMG_5503 IMG_5512 IMG_5552 IMG_5555 IMG_5560

I left The Painted Garden reluctantly, not wanting to leave this heavenly world of color and beauty. For soon enough I was back out in the cold, gray colorless streets of downtown Minneapolis. Yet if I close my eyes even for a moment, a burst of color suddenly reappears, reminding me that springtime is not far off.

Author’s note: In honor of iPhonography month, all photos above were taken with my iPhone and processed in Lightroom. Not bad for a camera phone!

If you want to go:

Macy’s Flower Show is currently running in the following cities:

  • Minneapolis
  • New York
  • Philadelphia
  • Chicago
  • San Francisco
  • Washington DC. (Cherry Blossom show)

Minneapolis’ show is from March 24-April 7th and is free.

To get information all the Macy’s Flower shows, dates and venues, click here. 

19 comments

  1. Mr. Craves and I would make it a date afternoon to go and see the flower show – brings back some great memories of when we were first dating. Loving your captures – thanks for sharing:) Have a Great Day!

    1. I’m getting there! These were all with my iPhone and rather rushed as I had Sophia with me. It was also crowded. I’d love to have brought in my good camera but I still am amazed how well they turned out for an iPhone! I then put them into Lightroom and fixed them. 🙂 I do love flowers as you know!!!!

      1. Judging from your photos iPhones take pretty good pictures! I love flowers too! I grew up with my mum designing our own gardens and wandering around plant nurseries so I learnt all the names. It was a great way to grow up!

  2. I was in New York one year and came upon the Macy’s flower show. I went up and down the escalators several times, just taking it all in. They do a wonderful job and your photos are beautiful.
    Spring is yet to drag itself into Bagni di Lucca, it can’t come soon enough.

    1. I am going to make this an annual tradition. I would have gone through several times but I had Sophia (age 6) with me so it was rushed. But still, it was so beautiful.
      We are still covered with snow here! It is getting old but I’m happy to say we leave for a week to Montana tomorrow for skiing over the kids spring break. I can hardly wait to be in the mountains! 🙂 Fresh air…here I come!

    1. So glad you enjoyed! We still have snow on the ground in Minnesota! It is a really late Spring! So the flower show is really critical to cheering people up about now! 🙂 I think I’ll look at those flowers again now! 🙂

    1. Yes it was amazing! This was the day that I got sick at! I’m so glad I got to see the show before I came down with the stomach flu! Hopefully no one else was near enough to me to catch it. It was a sensational show! 🙂

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.