Sex garden to ‘break taboos’ at Chelsea flower show as gnome ban ends | Chelsea flower show

It’s one of the most prestigious events in the British social calendar, but Chelsea’s big, beautiful flower show could be in for a shock this year when the Royal Horticultural Society unveils a sex-themed garden sponsored by a company that sells vibrators.

Lovehoney, a sex toy company, is sponsoring an Aphrodite-themed “pleasure garden” filled with flowers and plants associated with love and sex.

The show is seeking new sponsors for its gardens after the charity Project Giving Back announced 2026 would be the last year it would fund Chelsea. To fill this gap, the RHS is seeking new charitable funds for 2027.

The garden, named Aphrodite’s Hothouse, is designed by award-winning designer James Whiting, founder of Plants By There.

Whiting said he hoped to “break taboos” with his garden, which is themed around a giant greenhouse containing a huge ornamental heart, as well as Aphrodite-themed props including a clam with a pearl inside.

He said: “The Chelsea Flower Show is the perfect place to tell stories with plants, and I’ve never been one to play it safe. Creating the ultimate pleasure garden with Lovehoney was too irresistible to pass up.

“Gardens should spark curiosity, break a few taboos and make people stop. Houseplants, like fun, are something we should celebrate openly and abundantly.”

The plants used either have heart-shaped leaves, flowers or bracts, or are red or pink in color. Aphrodite is also sometimes represented by orchids, so these will be present in the garden.

Plants evoking the sea, from which Aphrodite canonically emerged in the foam, will be used. These include mistletoe cacti, spider plants and Spanish moss, as well as spreading fern fronds like those in the asplenium family.

Whiting said he would use “loving” and “playful” plants such as the heartleaf philodendron, spiderwort, and then plants with flowers and foliage in pink hues to signify an early bloom of love, such as the phalaenopsis orchid and caladium.

Plants that evoke lust and have deep, velvety foliage, tactile leaves, rich red and burgundy flowers and leaf undersides are combined in a host of suggestive desire, including densely planted flamingo flowers, prayer plants, pitcher plants and red-leaved philodendron.

Lovehoney’s Jo Connarty said: “You wouldn’t expect to see a sexual wellbeing brand at the Chelsea Flower Show and that’s precisely the aim. We’re always looking for cultural spaces to appear in and new ways to tell stories about sexual wellbeing, especially where it’s absent. An immersive and unexpected pleasure garden designed to spark curiosity and challenge expectations, because if we want to change the conversation around sex we can’t not stay in our lane.”

Another potentially controversial change to the show is the end of the ban on garden gnomes. The RHS is inviting celebrities to decorate gnomes to display in Chelsea, which will then be auctioned off to raise funds for the next generation of gardeners. The ban on gnomes was last lifted to celebrate Chelsea’s centenary in 2013. Gnomes have long been banned because they are deemed tacky and not fitting with the event.

The show will also feature a garden designed in part by King Charles. The RHS and King’s Foundation Curious Garden will feature delphiniums, one of the King’s favorite plants. He is a patron of the Delphinium Society and grows many in his garden at Highgrove.

This display is also designed in part by David Beckham and will contain seven raised beds in a nod to his shirt number for Manchester United and England.