• NYC's Flower Market is the source for container plants.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  The decorative containers planted with flowers on New York City's Fifth Avenue are as chic as the fashions and luxury goods in nearby store windows. Flowers on display range from simple petunias to exotic tropical blooms. Fifth Avenue businesses hire talented floral artists and sidewalk landscapers to create and maintain containers that highlight architecture and seasonal merchandise. The designers have floral riches to work with from the New York City Flower District, nearby.
  
  

Climate

• The city's tall buildings create a unique climate.Panoramica NYC image by Mr.Papeete from Fotolia.com
  
  Floral containers in Manhattan live in their own artificial climate formed by tall skyscraper canyons. Although Manhattan is in USDA plant hardiness zone 6b, plants from zone 7 and even the tropics are used. Spring starts early in late February with forced bulbs like scilla and crocus. Primroses, daffodils and alyssum follow in March. Tropicals like anthurium and miniature pineapple are outside by May. Designers prefer concrete or stone planters for exposed locations to mitigate the effects of chilly winds.
  
  

Popular Styles

• Twigs, grass and forced bulbs are Eco chic.spring flowers image by araraadt from Fotolia.com
  
  Eco and classical are the reigning floral styles. Takashimaya, a Fifth Avenue Asian home accessory and plant store pioneered eco-style containers with moss, bamboo and decorative grasses. Tiffany's and Saks Fifth Avenue favor classical arrangements with traditional flowers and topiary effects. Ivy, miniature boxwood and rosemary trimmed into geometric shapes are combined in containers with flowers or mixed spring bulbs. Hyacinth, tulips and narcissus combine with spiky chives and lavender. Ranunculus in hot colors and white or yellow Tazetta narcissus round out the selection.
  
  

Monumental Style

• Monumental designs are usually simple.City flowers image by wildman from Fotolia.com
  
  Monumental containers of concrete and stone, are favored for large building and require some design restraint. Glossy green evergreens and pastel mounded flowers are common choices. The Plaza hotel on the sunny side of Fifth Avenue featured spiraling white petunias in summer 2010. The Metropolitan Club further down the street had pastel blue hydrangeas, while the Pierre Hotel showcased dark purple and yellow alpine plants with small evergreens. Fifth Avenue museums like the Frick, Guggenheim and Metropolitan Museum of Art employ masses of tulips or daffodils in single- or two-color displays.
  
  

Public Style

• The tulip is New York's favorite flower.Park Avenue, new york image by Jolanta Zastocki from Fotolia.com
  
  The City of New York has standards for public floral displays which accompany art. In Rockefeller Center and Central Park, which border on Fifth Avenue, fir trees are added to planters to accent sculpture installations in November and December; snowdrops, Spanish bluebells, daffodils and tulips are added for spring bloom. Tulips can be called Manhattan's favorite flower since they are the most commonly planted container bulb. In June, workers replace tulips with begonias on the shady side of streets with petunias predominating sunny exposures.
  
  

Maintenance

• Maintenance is provided by urban landscapers.Gardener. Watering. image by Alexander Ivanov from Fotolia.com
  
  A legion of floral designers and maintenance services work daily to keep Fifth Avenue planters looking good. Some like Manhattan Plant have special exterior design services, including installing irrigation, to maintain container grown trees and plantings all year. Interior Foliage specializes in urban landscapes from containers to terraces to small "parks" just off Fifth Avenue. This company's sidewalk design team installed planters and evergreens in front of the Armani retail store on Fifth Avenue to give the building a vibe that complements the stone, glass and steel exterior.
  
  

Planning

• Plant your own Fifth Avenue container.summer container image by Tom Curtis from Fotolia.com
  
  Try Fifth Avenue-style containers outside your home or business. Choose containers that harmonize with architecture. For smaller buildings, use eco styling with a green element like grass or herbs, or go with the more formal look where flowers meet up with topiary ivy or rosemary. Keep bigger container plantings simple with glossy evergreen shrubs and simple flowers in a single pastel or a soft two-color design. What makes it "Fifth Avenue" is daily attention that keeps everything on display perfect.
  
  

Easter Parade

• The Fifth Avenue Easter parade features floral hats.beauty smiling girl with flowers in her hat image by Sundikova from Fotolia.com
  
  Macy's annual March flower show in Herald Square officially kicks off the flower appreciation season in New York, then the Easter parade brings excitement to Fifth Avenue. The tradition of promenading on Fifth stretches back over more than a hundred years. Today's parade is more of an outrageous hat contest. Elaborate floral displays are also on view in Rockefeller Center; Fifth Avenue merchants go all out with their entrance containers and interior floral accents.