A garden designed around the female anatomy will feature at the Chelsea Flower Show this year to raise awareness of gynaecological cancers.
Darren Hawkes’s Silent No More garden is being built in conjunction with the Lady Garden Foundation. It will feature sculptures, pink flowers and pools in the hopes of “opening up uninhibited conversations about gynaecological health”.
Visitors will be encouraged to have open and honest conversations about vaginal health around the garden’s central pool, in which “water flows gently through deep rills, guiding the journey onward”.
The winding paths of the space’s “richly planted borders” will lead visitors into “intimate nooks with secluded seating”.
The garden features winding paths with ‘richly planted borders’ which will lead visitors into intimate nooks for conversations
Soft, rounded architectural forms inspired by Eduardo Chillida, the Basque abstract sculptor, echo the structure of the womb and surround the “fleshy, crinkled” flower bushes in shades of dusty grey, pinks and blues, as well as some sensual, vibrant tones.
Flowers used in the design include Teucrium fruticans, Caradonna pinks and Brugmansia, a rare and tender plant.
Cistus creticus, with its delicate petals, crinkled edges and bright pink colouring, will complement the Olearia macrodonta foliage with its serrated grey-green leaves and cream flowers.
It is the latest attempt to broach taboo subjects at the 113-year-old garden show, following on from the “boundary-pushing hothouse” sponsored by sex toy company LoveHoney, which will also be stationed among the more traditional forests and shrubberies at Chelsea this summer.
Mr Hawkes, the award-winning designer based in Cornwall, said: “As a husband, father, and son to important women in my life, I want to help expand awareness amongst men and women, break taboos and shatter the silence to help save the lives of women in future generations.”
Approximately 60 women in the UK will receive a gynaecological cancer diagnosis each day and 21 will die of it, despite it being one of the most preventable cancers.
Many of those deaths could have been prevented through awareness and discussions about regular human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccinations and smear test screenings – exactly the conversations Mr Hawkes wants his garden to generate.
Darren Hawkes wants to spread the awareness of gynaecological cancers and says it is crucial for men to also get involved
Mr Hawkes told The Telegraph: “I think it’s crucial for men to be involved as a part of the conversation.
“Cervical cancer is something that is unfortunately really common in women under 30; you could be a young boy with a young mother or a brother with a sister who is a young woman or you could be a young father with a wife.
“It’s a women’s health issue, but it will have a massive effect on men.
“Unfortunately, we still live in a chauvinistic world and men have to give space to women in home and work life as well as be there for them, so they can have that conversation without fear of rebuke or mockery or being made to feel uncomfortable.
“The garden could never communicate the things people need to know about gynaecological cancer but it can stop people in their tracks and overwhelm them with beauty and grace and hopefully they will have some curiosity about what the garden means and start asking questions.”
The garden will feature sculptures, pink flowers and pools in the hopes of ‘opening up uninhibited conversations about gynaecological health’
The Lady Garden Foundation found last year that 46 per cent of women they surveyed aged between 25 and 64 had not attended cervical smear appointments even when invited to do so by the NHS. Many cited a lack of time, embarrassment and low perceived risk.
The charity launched the Silent No More campaign – decorated with its fair share of pink, frilly roses – to encourage more people to receive their HPV vaccinations, which can prevent 90 per cent of cases, and to recognise symptoms of vulval cancer and pre-cancerous conditions.
The layout of the Silent No More garden by Darren Hawkes
The foundation said: “Our mission is to make a step change in awareness of the five gynaecological cancers in 2026.
“The charity has built a reputation for being the boldest voice in gynae health, funding pioneering research at The Royal Marsden, building a national education programme and campaigning to raise awareness and change policy.”
The Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show will run from May 19-23 and will feature gardens from charities including SightSavers, the Alzheimer’s Society and The King’s Foundation.
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