Community groups, schools and charities have created garden displays for the Palm House’s anniversary celebrations. The exhibition highlights wellbeing, environmental action and local community projects.
The east lawn of the Sefton Park Palm House has been transformed into a showcase of community-driven design, featuring 10 unique show gardens created by organizations from across the Liverpool City Region. The exhibition, which opened recently, marks the first time the historic venue has hosted such a collective project. Each of the 2-by-3-meter garden plots was designed and constructed by a diverse group of contributors, including children, volunteers, service users, and local residents. The displays are curated around several key themes, such as education, health and well-being, environmental action, and community growth, aiming to reflect both the individual missions of the participating organizations and broader values like hope, recovery, and resilience.
One of the contributions, created in collaboration with volunteers and families from Woodlands Hospice, centers on a 'forget-me-not' theme. Hayley Smallman of Woodlands Hospice explained that the garden was designed to honor the memory of loved ones, with individual flowers symbolizing those who have been lost. Another exhibit by The Friends of Sefton Park highlights the persistent issue of litter within public spaces. Andrea Ku, representing the group, noted that the display uses collected waste to illustrate the reality of litter found in the park, serving as an educational message about the ongoing need for environmental stewardship.
Beyond these individual projects, the exhibition is a cornerstone of the venue’s 25th-anniversary milestone, celebrating both the Palm House’s reopening after major renovations and its enduring role as a community landmark. Kate Johnson, CEO of the Sefton Park Palm House, indicated that the event is just the beginning of a broader anniversary program. The venue plans to host an array of activities throughout the remainder of the year, including late-night summer events with music and refreshments, botanical talks, and the return of a special exhibition from the Central Library.
The show gardens will remain open to the public through June 21, inviting visitors to engage with the themes of community collaboration and resilience that define the installation.
