Vernal equinox puts spring in Chicago's step

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The vernal equinox marks the official beginning of spring at 5:45 p.m. Friday. Temperatures climbed to nearly 50 degrees as spring arrived in Chicago, but the city hasn't completely shaken winter's grip.

Visitors at Navy Pier got to enjoy a true taste of spring at the Chicago Flower and Garden show, where roses bloomed as if to say, "Welcome spring!"

"If you came last weekend, it's a completely different show than it is this weekend because more is in bloom," said Tony Abruscato, director of the Chicago Flower and Garden Show.

The rose bulbs have been in greenhouses since November, prepping them to bloom here in Chicago.

"The whole idea with the flower and garden show is to get ideas about what you can do when it's 'time' to start planting and 'time' to be outside. It's definitely not 'time' yet," Abruscato said.

Outside, what's left of winter is still there, but not for long. City crews are already beginning to clean up the last remnants of winter.

"So starting Monday the 16th, we began deploying over 40 street sweepers and we covered over 5,000 miles of city streets so far," Chicago Streets & Sanitation Commissioner Charles Williams said. "We've picked up over 2,700 cubic yards of waste which translates into more than 1,000 tons of garbage that we've taken off the streets."

Williams said the effort is all to prep for spring rains when they eventually begin to fall.

For anyone looking to enjoy an indoor spring, the Chicago Flower and Garden Show runs through Sunday.