Sunflower Power in Bloom: A Garden of Hope at BBC Gardeners’ World Live 2025
This year at BBC Gardeners’ World Live 2025, a truly special collaboration is set to take centre stage. Hollybush Garden Centre and Jack Moody Group have joined forces with Beth’s Sunflowers – a charity rooted in love and legacy – to bring a vibrant show garden to life. Designed by the talented Hannah Thomas of Hannah Thomas Garden Design, Sunflower Power is more than just a garden; it’s a symbol of strength, remembrance, and hope.
Beth’s Sunflowers was founded in 2019 in memory of Beth Childs, who sadly passed away from blood cancer just two months before her 21st birthday. What began as a heartfelt tribute has blossomed into a powerful movement, raising money through the simple yet profound act of growing and selling sunflower seeds. With each bloom, the charity honours Beth’s spirit and supports others affected by blood cancer.
The Sunflower Power garden promises to be a moving and meaningful highlight of the show – blending thoughtful design with a vital cause.
Bringing the Vision to Life: A Two-Week Transformation
Over the past two weeks, our team has worked tirelessly to bring this incredible project to life. With a blend of exceptional hard and soft landscaping features, every detail has been carefully crafted to deliver a stunning result. We’re incredibly grateful to our dedicated team, whose skill, effort, and passion made this transformation possible. Their contribution has been invaluable in turning the vision into reality.
Garden Features
Fibonacci spiral path: The spiral path follows the Fibonacci structure of the sunflower head, symbolising its contribution to science and medicine.
Water Feature: The fountain and pebble pool symbolise the sunflower’s life cycle – from seed to bloom – reflecting how Beth’s Sunflowers has harnessed this natural process into a powerful force for raising funds for blood cancer research and patient support. The gentle sound of flowing water adds a sense of calm to the garden.
Log Wall & Window: The log wall, constructed from timber from fallen trees and branches at Jack Moody Group land, supports bio-diversity by providing shelter and breeding sites for insects, amphibians, reptiles, small mammals, and pollinators, as well as encouraging fungi and natural decomposition, enriching the soil, and creating a cool, damp microclimate.
The window in the log wall with its view out beyond the garden, represents how Beth’s Sunflowers has made a difference to the wider world through the simple act of growing sunflowers in their gardens – and reminds us that, by supporting bio-diversity and encouraging sustainability in our own green spaces, we too can help to nurture the world around us.
Willow Walls: Made from renewable, biodegradable willow, the woven walls add a natural aesthetic and a eco-friendly means of providing wind protection, privacy and climbing plant support in a garden. The woven material can also provide shelter and nesting opportunities for insects and birds.
Bird Feeder: Our bird feeder is filled with sunflower seeds, showing how this highly nutritious food can support the local bird population all year round. High in energy and rich in nutrients, sunflower seeds can help birds maintain healthy feathers, strong immune systems and good breeding condition.
Seating: The generous bench provides a place to come together amid nature to remember Beth. It’s made from recycled timber which was destined for scrap before being rescued by Fell Design, who created this beautiful bespoke design for the garden. The timber is FSC pine, which has been heat-treated, a chemical-free way of improving rot resistance and stability, making it suitable for outdoor use – and recyclable at the end of its life.
Metal Sunflowers: Created by artist and sculptor Nicci Fairbank, our bespoke metal sunflowers add a strong visual and symbolic impact to the garden and show how garden art can enhance an outdoor space, providing colour, shape, and structure even when real flowers are out of season.
Steel Elements: The garden edging, pool surround, metal sunflowers, archway and bird feeder are all made from rusted steel, designed to honour Beth’s Black Country roots and made by 4 Fabrications and Welding Ltd.
Planting: Sunflowers and other plants of the Asteraceae (daisy) family form the heart of the planting, interwoven throughout trees, shrubs, perennials and grasses which bring additional texture, structure and scent. The beautiful Rosa ‘Our Beth’ features throughout the garden in tribute to Beth. From the Acer and Cornus trees to the ground cover planting, the multi-layered scheme supports biodiversity, whilst a palette of warm yellows and oranges balanced with cool blues and purples creates an uplifting yet relaxing atmosphere.
Planting Plan
Thank you
It’s been a privilege and an incredible journey bringing our vision for BBC Gardeners World 2025 Sunflower Power to life – a garden inspired by the vibrant spirit of Beth and the amazing work carried out in her name. We’ve aimed to capture the heart and hope that sunflowers represent, just as Beth’s legacy continues to shine through everything her family and friends do.
We’re honoured to have collaborated with Beth’s Sunflowers and are proud to support their tireless efforts. Please help us support this wonderful charity – your generosity will make a real difference.
With love Hannah, Kate and all at Jack Moody Group
To find out more about Beth’s Sunflowers charity, click here
To donate to Beth’s Sunflowers, click here
To find out more about Jack Moody Group and the services they are offer, click here
