Macy's Keeps Us in the Pink

Macy's has a hit on its hands: the 35th annual Flower Show, up through Sunday, is drawing tons of foot traffic. The design team at the Macy's Parade Studio came up with a motif that is fun, nostalgic for simpler and more prosperous days, bound to please crowds, and well, put them in the mood to shop. That motif is... flamingos, inspired, as an informational placard states, not by Audubon's illustrations, but the lawn novelty launched in 1957.

These flamingos are not in fact very kitsch-y. They're quite elegant. Their wire frames were constructed in Hoboken and then they were moved to a nursery on the North Fork for planting: first, they were filled with moss, and then they were covered in 2,500 flowering kalanchoe plants each. The kalanchoe is a succulent native to Madagascar. They were grown in 2-inch pots and then plucked of their leaves by hand "yielding a feather-y soft pink surface."

Department store spectacle is far too seldom noted, but it's part of the grand daily experience of living in New York. Macy's is still putting the effort in, recession or not, and we owe the retailer that also brings us the Thanksgiving Parade and Fourth of July Fireworks a visit.

Oh, and just for kicks, here's a PBS Nature video showing what the real flamingos are like: also a great mood lifter.