• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, March 6, 2012

Ah, spring. It’s the season when consumers long for a break from their muddy lives, and retailers for a calendar event that might boost traffic now that the holidays are a distant memory. And this year, housekeeping is forcing Macy’s to take its blooms to the streets.

For Macy’s, the flower show is a multi-city event that lifts spirits and drives sales, kicking off the Easter selling period. But with extensive renovations underway in its Herald Square flagship, Macy’s is turning an enormous outdoor tent into Brasil: Gardens in Paradise.

Linked to its Brazilian-themed merchandising and marketing initiative, the show tent will open to New Yorkers March 25 and run through April 7.  "This year's Macy's Flower Show will be a completely different experience for our audience," executive producer, Robin Hall says in the chain’s release.

The 5,000-square-foot show, set up in a climate-controlled, custom-made tent, will offer “a virtual and panoramic view of this spectacular and storied oasis... celebrates the culture, spirit, and landscape of Brasil through architectural design and indigenous botanicals.”

While plenty of New Yorkers claim the event as their own, the tradition actually started in 1946 in Macy’s San Francisco store, where it was linked to promotions at the fragrance counter. The flower show in New York didn’t start until 1953, was cancelled in 1966, and then revived in 1974. It has become increasingly more elaborate, with tie-ins to Easter merchandising events throughout the store, including fashion, tabletop, home furnishings and food.

Spring flower shows draw plenty of traffic and sponsorship deals. The Philadelphia International Flower Show, underway this week, is the largest in the U.S. and attracted 265,000 visitors last year, and this year boasts sponsorship from Subaru of America and Bank of America, as well as a variety of local and tourism sponsors.

The Chelsea Flower Show in London, the granddaddy of the concept, is in its 99th year, with the five-day event kicking off in late May. (Last year, it capped attendance at 157,000.)