Garden ideas take flight at Macy's annual flower show

Float flowers underwater or plant your whole table top with succulents.

We're talking over-the-top inspiration. We're talking the Macy's Flower Show.

The free show: "Spring is in the Air," which features at least six semitrailer loads of flowers and plant material at the flagship store, 111 N. State St. in Chicago, runs through April 11.

One artist showing her skills is Erin Barrett, who grew up in Grayslake and now manages a shop called Stems at 850 N. Ashland Ave. in Chicago.

Barrett is the one who will urge you to put your flowers underwater. Actually, she encourages you to get inspiration from a branch or container or the flowers themselves and go with it.

You'll find her work displayed April 7-9 under a mobile of balsa airplanes flying beneath the famous Tiffany ceiling. While she was reluctant to reveal secrets about the arrangement in advance, her theme is April showers: a cloud and rain drops crafted from fresh flowers.

Here are examples of materials that might inspire Barrett's distinctive looks: Artichokes, twisty kiwi branches or grapevines, and air plants, which come in many looks and take nutrients and water through leaves so they not need to be planted or set in water.

Minimalist architectural arrangements that could feature Mokara and cymbidium orchids are popular.

But it's spring, and who can resist tulips, hydrangeas and hyacinths. Seasonal flowers are always the freshest and least expensive, said Barrett.

When you're setting a table, small arrangements in cubes might work better than a large, traditional one, says the designer.

Trend: The most popular shades of flowers for weddings are purples, deep reds, maroons and greens - maybe with blues.

Under water: Yes, Barrett might submerge a log and go from there. Or she could take a tall square or cylindrical see-through vase and arrange flowers in it before filling it with water. Wiring the blooms to a rock would keep them in place.

Most flowers work, said Barrett, but some turn the water murky. She recommends staying away from sunflowers, but you can try this with roses, dahlias, calla lilies, fiddlehead ferns and orchids.

The table planted with succulents is just one reason to travel up to Macy's sixth floor china department after you've enjoyed all the drama and excitement of the first floor, including several vertical gardens planted with a huge variety of materials such as succulents and staghorn ferns.

The theme these days in retail: Mix new items with what you've already got. If you love the china your grandmother left you, update it with square plates or new serving pieces or table linens.

Believe it or not, the search for furniture to use in the show took Jon Jones, visual director for the State Street store, through abandoned nooks and crannies in the 2.2-million-square-foot antique building.

He found mid-century conference room tables, laminate tables with chrome legs and at least one in gorgeous burled wood.

He and Kim Garner, a creative director, were searching for a particular chair, and found six of them one by one throughout the mammoth store.

Garner took these old pieces of furniture and created tabletop displays with potted plant collections you won't see in the average dining room.

But she wants you to be inspired.

You might not want to put 2-inch deep trays planted with succulents all over the top of your table. But you could plant a few baking dishes and use them in the middle of a table for your garden party. Or you might even cover a complete card table.

In another display Garner marches a boxwood hedge across a table. This is all in front of a tall variegated holly hedge.

The duo even dares to modernize a traditional Waterford crystal chandelier with white fabric that ends up forming a giant tassel.

"It sounds like a train wreck, but we want to show our customers they can use things they already have in their home and update with a few new items," said Jones.

Most of the china in the show is white - another trend for spring.

The new pieces come in the creative shapes or attention-grabbing sizes such as a larger bowl or a smaller plate.

And don't miss the custom-made 7-foot metal orb surrounding one chandelier and planted to match the smaller orbs running down the table underneath. Jones is going for a hot-air balloon feel with this one.

It just might just give you ideas for those garden orbs.