After a four-year hiatus, Macy's is blooming with excitement to welcome back the Spring Flower Show to its State Street store. Running from March 21st through April 7th, our landmark location is proud to host the "Gadina Africana," featuring a vast display of South Africa's distinctly diverse and historically evolved floras.

The South African-themed exhibit was inspired by Macy's "Path to Peace" project, recently launched to promote the sale of hand woven baskets made by 2,000 Rwandan women who survived the genocides of 1994.

A celebration of African artistry and vegetation, the show will transform the first floor of Macy's on State Street to an in-house nursery of exotic plants. To accompany the fresh floras, select store windows will display the original artistry of Michael Clinton's landscape photography, as well as Willa Shalit's photos capturing various aspects of African life.

Macy's will welcome Keith Kirsten, a longtime ambassador of South African vegetation and culture to assist in the 17-day long festivities. As an active advocate of natural preservation, Kirsten has been working with South African's agricultural community for over 25 years. A respected member of organizations like the Water Conservation and Botanical Society of Southern Africa, The Green Trust and Peace Gardens, Kirsten has truly built his career around sustaining South Africa's plant life. Kirsten's merit precedes his reputation, as he fills the roles of Founder Director and Patron of Food and Trees for Africa, as well as Patron of Arbor Week and the National Water Conservation Campaign. Perhaps his most influential role to date, however, was the founding of his own organization, Keith Kirsten Horticulture International (KKHI) in 1999. A global organization for the breeding and marketing of plants, KKHI focuses its efforts towards the identification, development, production and marketing of plant varieties to a number of constituents in the industry. To say that this worldwide importer/exporter businessman has left an impression on both South African vegetation and gardens worldwide would be a vast understatement. Macy's is both honored and enthusiastic for his involvement in this year's show.

Aiming to please all of your senses, Macy's Flower Show will also feature the culinary works of famed chef, Marcus Samuelsson. As one of our own Macy's Culinary Council chefs and author of a new cookbook, The Soul of a New Cuisine: A Discovery of the Foods and Flavors of Africa, Samuelsson will treat guests to a cooking demonstration and book signing. This, and other African-inspired merchandise will be available for purchase throughout the duration of the show at our Flower Show Gift Shop located on the first floor.

Macy's is pleased to partner with the Chicago Botanic Garden to provide complimentary, regularly scheduled guided tours of the 2007 Macy's Flower Show displays by Master Gardeners from Plant Information Service at the Chicago Botanic Garden. The tours will be available at 11:00 and 1:00 p.m. Thursday - Saturday beginning on March 22 and ending on April 7. Reservations are not taken and are on a first reply basis. Meet at the first floor Burnham Fountain Atrium 15 minutes prior to tour time.

Additional information for the Macy's Flower Show is available here.