I’m sorry to keep going on about it, but I’m fed up of winter. So thank you Macy’s for allowing me to pretend it’s spring.

Last night I headed to Macy’s Flower Show, a mixture of art, botany, sweet scents and of course, window displays. It really does brighten up the dreary streets this time of year.

When I got there, I was disappointed to see that the whole set-up has changed. The last time I went – a couple of years ago – most of the flowers were in a large tent in Herald Square. You’d enter through one door, meander past running water features and bloom-covered dragons before heading back out on to the street.

But this year (and last year maybe?), the displays were only dotted around the ground level of the department store, so you had to be prepared to dance around shoppers and free perfume samples to see them.

Still, I was impressed. Each display focused on an art movement – Impressionism, Expressionism, Surrealism etc – and then incorporated flowers to pay homage to its best-known artists.

I loved spotting a piece and figuring out which movement it was – like this one, which reminded me of the recent Matisse exhibition at the MoMA:

Here are some of the others:

As I walked around the store, there was a definite flowery whiff – pretty impressive seeing as it had all of those spritzes of perfume to contend with.

But the highlights were the window displays. And because of the time of day, the windows were reflecting the buildings behind me, so my photos show the towers merging with the flowers. Fun, I thought.

I’m still convinced the displays were a little more majestic a couple of years ago, but those window displays are definitely worth checking out if you’re in the area – if only to give you a sniff of spring.

The free ‘Flowers in Bloom’ show is at Macy’s flagship store at Herald Square at 34th Street. It runs until April 4th and can be viewed during the store’s opening times; it closes at 9.30pm each evening, apart from Sunday when it closes at 8.30pm.

151 West 34th Street

New York, NY 10001

212-695-4400

Hours: 

Mon-Fri: 9am - 9.30pm

Sat: 10am - 9.30pm

Sun: 11am - 8.30pm