Macy’s 2026 Flower Show Celebrates 50 State Flowers

By Jill Brooke

With America’s 250th birthday around the corner, Macy’s Flower Show found inspiration by creating the theme of “Homegrown.”

Over 50,000 flowers including lush tulips, purple anthuriums and alliums, orange ranunculus and bright yellow daisies greeted shoppers as the doors opened for its 51st show, which will be on display until May 10th. A mechanical sun bursting with flowers brought smiles as though sunlight was beaming on everyone nearby.

“This year’s ‘Homegrown’ theme celebrates our country’s floral landscapes through an immersive journey across America brought to life with craftsmanship, artistry and multisensory experiences,” says Sharon Otterman, chief marketing officer at Macy’s. “From our iconic Herald Square beauty floor in partnership with Valentino Beauty to a new pop‑up at Macy’s State Street, we’re creating moments of surprise and delight that only Macy’s can deliver.”

A highlight included creative director Brendan Kennedy incorporating crocheted and knitted flowers, lovely floral illustrations and paneled flower paintings into the storytelling experience.

Kennedy and the Macy’s creative team wanted to honor the flowers of all the 50 states. However, the reason that no botanical garden ever has one is because not all the flowers bloom at the same time. But the story could be told by using crafted birdhouses with illustrations of those flowers from each state. Therefore installations representing Southwest, Northwest, Southeast, Northeast, etc were created to represent regional flowers in different pockets of the country.

Brilliant.

Plus birds also pollinate flowers to create the magnificence of the flowers we all enjoy.

“Of course, the red rose represents New York where this is taking place,” said Kennedy as he pointed to the East Coast installation with live lush red roses. Yet we also see how the Cherokee Rose is the flower for Georgia.

Aside from swooning over the flowers, the installations invited shoppers and visitors to contemplate the journey of flowers in different states. One installation had crocheted flowers on a female mannequin watering the plants since, as Kennedy pointed out, flowers need “morning watering” and tending as well as care at the end of the day.

There was also a wishing well installation to think about hope and possibility which flowers also convey.

Aside from Lego events and future Mother’s Day gatherings for kids, some liked going to the Valentino area where each room is filled with different perfumes and colorful floral displays. There was also a map of all the flowers of the 50 states.

Vanessa Sosa brought her daughter Carolina to the event as a mother daughter activity. What did the young girl like? “I loved how interactive it all was especially when I wore the headphones,” she said.

A huge arch filled with purple and fuchsia pink tones were a sought after Instagram photo spot and included a pathway filled with colorful floral images. Friends frolicked through the pathway to share in the fun.

A pregnant Olivia Wei was also charmed by all the flowers. Will she name her baby girl now after a flower?

“I’m certainly going to think about it,” she said.

The 2026 Macy’s Flower Show is indeed a journey. through America’s greenhouse told through flowers. As the organizers said, “each step invites you to see that every new season is a change to begin again, and we are always in bloom-growing toward the light.”