Visitors to this year’s Festival of Flowers at Chichester Cathedral on 3-6 June will be invited to step into a magical world inspired by the beloved classic The Secret Garden. Professional wedding florist and former lead designer Hannah Howell of Whimsy’s will transform the Lady Chapel with an immersive installation titled “The Secret Garden.”
Wild, natural and beautifully untamed, the display will evoke the feeling of discovering a long-forgotten garden hidden behind an old door. Visitors will be drawn into the Lady Chapel through a lush, overgrown pathway of trees, plants and cut flowers, creating the sense of walking into the pages of the classic story.
Hannah, who served as Lead Designer for the 2024 Festival, grew up surrounded by plants at her family’s nursery, making floristry a natural path that combines her love of nature and design. After training at Chichester College, she went on to freelance for florists and creative teams in London, including working with the greens team on the live-action film Beauty and the Beast, creating garden scenes for the production. In 2020 she launched her own floristry business, focusing on wedding and event floral design.
“My love of flowers started growing up around plants at our family nursery. My family have always been a huge support and are my go-to team for big installations - they helped me when I was Lead Designer in 2024 and they’re all involved again this year to help bring The Secret Garden to life.”
Hannah Howell
Her father, a second-generation grower and owner of Tawny Nurseries, is sponsoring the display and lending a collection of trees and living plants to help create the layered, woodland atmosphere, while other family members are helping craft handmade details that bring the narrative to life.
Throughout the display, visitors will discover carefully selected props including a robin, a hidden door, keys and tiny garden creatures, to echo the enchanting details of the story. Quotes from The Secret Garden will appear throughout the installation, enlarged and styled to look like pages from the book, inviting visitors to pause and reflect on the words as they explore the garden.
The planting will celebrate the beauty of an English country garden, with flowers including delphiniums, daisies, roses, sweet peas, hydrangeas, lavender and fragrant herbs. Beech and birch trees will help create height and structure, forming a natural canopy within the chapel space.
Sustainability is also central to the design. Following the Festival’s commitment to environmentally responsible floristry, Hannah and her team will avoid the use of floral foam, instead relying on traditional and reusable materials. Many of the props in the display have been reused or upcycled such as chicken wire, troughs and buckets.
The installation will also feature seasonal fruit and berries supplied by sponsor Summer Berries, woven naturally into the arrangements.
Hannah says: “The Secret Garden is such a magical story about nature, discovery and transformation. We want people to feel as though they are stepping into a hidden garden that has grown wild and free. Every corner will hold something new to discover - from flowers and trees to tiny handmade details inspired by the book.”
The project is also a celebration of family creativity. With her father contributing plants from Tawny Nurseries and her sister and other family members helping with the handmade elements, the display reflects a shared passion for gardening, storytelling and sustainable floristry.
By drawing visitors deeper into the Lady Chapel, Hannah hopes the installation will create a sense of curiosity and wonder - encouraging guests to slow down, explore and rediscover the joy of nature, just as the characters do in The Secret Garden.
The design beautifully reflects this year’s Festival theme, Nature’s Embrace, created by Lead Designer Caroline Daines. It also arrives at a fitting moment for Chichester’s Year of Reading, a regional celebration of the Government’s Go All In campaign, which aims to inspire more people to discover the joy of reading.
Hannah is one of many professional florists giving up her time to volunteer at the Festival of Flowers. Over 100 arrangers will come together ranging from 8 to 80 year-olds to deliver this year’s 30th anniversary event, which takes place over the 3-6 June 2026.
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