A garden created to break the silence around gynaecological cancers at the Chelsea Flower Show is to be partially relocated to Jersey in memory of an islander who died from ovarian cancer aged 28.
The Lady Garden Foundation’s “Silent No More” show garden will be brought to five sites across the island following the prestigious flower show, recognising Jersey as the home of Emily Plane, whose experience inspired the project.
The planned locations are Catherine Best, Trinity churchyard near Emily’s headstone, Jersey Hospice, Le Gigoulande Mill Pond and the National Trust site at The Elms.
Organisers also hope to create a trail linking the five installations – each representing one of the five gynaecological cancers: ovarian, cervical, vaginal, womb and vulva.
Emily, who grew up in Jersey, first suggested the idea of a Lady Garden Foundation garden at Chelsea after visiting the show in 2023 during cancer treatment.
Having been diagnosed with advanced stage three ovarian cancer in 2018 after months of persistent pain and repeated GP visits, Emily underwent years of gruelling treatment at London’s Royal Marsden Hospital – including chemotherapy, multiple surgeries and a permanent colostomy bag.
“I became a passenger on the rollercoaster ride that was cancer, pit-stopping for chemo every three weeks, knocking them down one by one,” she wrote during treatment.
“It was hard to glance at myself in the mirror, I would see this pale, broken, bald person looking back at me, it was harrowing.
“I could see my own fear and sadness reflected in my eyes. I was a stranger to my normal bubbly bouncing self.”
Despite her illness, Emily became a passionate advocate for earlier diagnosis and greater awareness of gynaecological cancers through her work with the Lady Garden Foundation.
During her final summer, Emily visited the Chelsea Flower Show with her mother Penny.
Seeing the impact of restorative gardens on patients and visitors inspired her to urge the charity to create its own exhibit.
In a message to the foundation, Emily wrote: “I just can’t stop thinking about how much joy and calmness it would bring patients.”
The Lady Garden Foundation – founded in 2014 by a group of women affected by gynaecological cancer – works to raise awareness of cervical, ovarian, womb, vaginal and vulval cancers while funding research and encouraging earlier diagnosis.
Around 60 women in the UK receive a gynaecological cancer diagnosis every day, while 21 die from one of the diseases, according to the charity.
The Chelsea show garden, designed by award-winning garden designer Darren Hawkes, aims to “spark conversation” and help tackle the stigma surrounding women’s health.
Lady Garden Foundation co-founder and chief executive Jenny Halpern Prince MBE said: “We started Lady Garden to eradicate the shame that surrounds gynaecological health. The silence has been, and still is, killing people.”
The foundation remembered Emily as “fun, rebellious, unafraid of speaking out, and determined that no other woman should face a late diagnosis”.
“Her spirit lives on in the Lady Garden Foundation’s ‘Silent No More’ Garden, and in the conversations and women’s lives it will save for years to come,” it added.
