Chelsea Flower Show puts women’s health into the frame with ‘Silent No More’ garden
At this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Tamara Beckwith Veroni brings a long-overlooked issue into one of the UK’s most public-facing spaces
There is a familiar rhythm to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, where attention tends to settle on planting schemes, craftsmanship and the details of garden design. This year, the Lady Garden Foundation’s ‘Silent No More’ garden introduces a subject rarely addressed so openly in this setting: gynaecological health.
Led by Tamara Beckwith Veroni, the foundation has spent more than a decade raising awareness of the five gynaecological cancers. In the UK, around 60 women are diagnosed each day and 21 die, often because symptoms are recognised too late. The issue is not only medical but cultural, shaped by a long-standing reluctance to speak plainly about this area of health. The Chelsea setting brings this difficult topic into a more public conversation.
The garden is designed by Darren Hawkes, an RHS Gold Medal winner whose work is known for its clarity and control. Alongside the garden, the foundation has partnered with The Lab Co. on Forbidden Bloom, a fragrance intended to reflect the same idea. Its name points to what has long been treated as off-limits, and to the shift towards speaking about it more openly.
Forbidden Bloom is a 60ml eau de parfum priced at £75, a rich, disruptive floral with a confident, defiant tone.
More about Lady garden foundation – https://www.ladygardenfoundation.com/
The Lab and Co range – https://www.thelabco.com/
RHS Chelsea Flower Show
Royal Hospital Chelsea, London
19–23 May 2026
Featured image: ‘Silent No More’ Garden is designed by Darren Hawkes in collaboration with Ruddy Joinery.
Elena Leo is the Culture & Lifestyle Editor of Ikon London Magazine.
