Many designers like flowers, and it shows in their work

Along with crocuses and daffodils comes another surefire sign of spring: florals in fashion.

The garden-party look is a seasonal classic, but there's been some updating this season. Look for artistic - almost abstract - brush-stroke technique, or realistic, photo-style prints. Other twists include tulip-style hemlines and fabric petals adorning everything from tank tops to ball gowns.

Flowers, say designers, are an endless source of inspiration because of their delicacy, femininity and beauty. And it turns out many fashion insiders are gardeners (or aspiring gardeners), too.

The AP asked designers who are offering florals in their spring collections about their favorite flowers:

Carmen Marc Valvo

Flowers creep into his clothes all the time, but there have been two specific flower-themed runway shows. One came after his treatment for cancer six years ago. He saw the rebirth of his peony trees as a hopeful sign, so he used pinks, chiffon petals and "dewdrops" of crystals.

A few years later he blew up Georgia O'Keefe-style flowers as prints.

"I was fixated by the way petals moved, and I started playing with organza like an origami rose," Valvo says.

The highlights of Valvo's actual garden include the Carmen rose and his peonies. Those peonies have taken him on a roller coaster of growing, thriving, shriveling up and once again blossoming. His orchids are also finicky, but Valvo now has a greenhouse for them.

"When they come back, it's very satisfying," he said.

Tracy Reese

Peonies are also a favorite for Reese. She said she likes that they evolve from such a compact ball into lovely layers as they blossom. They're also such a welcome sign of sunny days ahead after a long winter, Reese said.

In her work, though, Reese doesn't restrict herself to springtime blooms. Many of her fall collections, including the one just previewed at New York Fashion Week, will incorporate florals.

"It's hard to point to a season where we haven't used flowers for something - either shape, color, print," she said.

Florals are a staple of her wardrobe, and she likes to mix them with other prints.

"I'll wear florals and plaid, a striped sweater and a floral-print skirt, but sometimes there's nothing more beautiful than a spring garden dress."

Shoshanna Lonstein

Lonstein recently tossed the holiday paperwhites and moved on to cut gardenias and honeysuckle in the spirit of spring. Later in the season, the hydrangeas she planted will blossom. She loves having their cut flowers in the house.

She also grows tomatoes, but is a killer of orchids.

"I need to stick to the sturdier bushes," she saod.

You won't find watercolor florals in her designs either, but every collection has florals, including one lily of the valley print that was fashioned after her wedding bouquet.

She said florals look chic and sophisticated when they're anchored with black or on tailored pieces.

"You don't want too much fabric," she said. "Try sleeveless or the top part of dress that's floral with a black skirt or vice versa. If you pull one color out of the print and stick with it for the rest of the outfit, you'll have a nice balance."

Michael Smaldone, creative director at Talbots

"I'm a pink guy, but my favorite flower is an orange poppy," Smaldone said. "I love how they're both wild - with ugly leaves and hairy stems - and have a beautiful delicate flower."

His thumb is pretty green, he said.

"I like to get as tropical as I can in a nontropical location," he said. "My garden is very green, organic and has things with big leaves. There are poppies all over the place to give a burst of color."

He turned to a brush-stroke floral print for Talbots' spring line, though, because he thought that approach was very optimistic, something the fashion world needs right now.

But whatever the climate is for style trends, flowers always fit in, Smaldone said.

"You can do everything with them," he said. "They can fit into any trend: ethnic, watercolor, Impressionistic, pop art - you name it."

LeAnn Nealz, American Eagle design chief

Nealz said she loves white magnolias for their intoxicating scent, but ranunculus are her favorites because they're so cheerful.

"They look like they're made of hundreds of layers of brightly colored paper," she said.

Nealz interpreted sweet, small florals for spring onto a flirty daytime skirt as well as a day-to-night minidress. She used a more tropical flower for menswear on board shorts.

Janie Schoenborn, Lilly Pulitzer design director

Coming from a long line of gardeners - her father has a degree in landscape design, mom has a traditional English garden and Aunt Molly's specialty is tropicals - Schoenborn is trying to keep up the tradition with lilacs and syringas.

So far, she hasn't done a lilac print for Lilly Pulitzer, but a shade of lavender was just added to the label's palette so it probably won't be long until she tries one.

"Every spring is a floral bonanza for us," Schoenborn said. "We don't always do an exact replica of a flower. Right now we have an abstract orchid. There's a Queen Anne's lace that we hadn't done but will have for summer. ... We don't discriminate against any flowers, but we like 'pretty' so no cactuses, but we'll even do lemon and lime blossoms."

Peter Som

Som is yet another peony fan, and he also has a thing for green roses. There are some orchids in his house right now that he's trying to revive, but it's not going all that well.

"I wish I had a green thumb," he said.

His spring collection had an underlying vibe of Japanese woodcuts - and he found that all sorts of floral prints worked with it. The range included big-scale flowers to 1940s'-inspired painterly blooms.

"A flower is eternally beautiful," Som said, "and it really screams spring."