The Bring Me Sunshine Garden, inspired by Eric Morecambe and the coastline of his home town, is being shown at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show this week. The display, which runs from Tuesday to Saturday, marks the centenary year of the comedian’s birth and is built to end up back where its story began.
At the heart of the garden is a solar-powered, shell-shaped canopy, a feature meant to anchor the design while reflecting the seaside setting that shaped the project. The garden also includes Austrian pine trees, sea buckthorn and green olive, tying its look to a coastal landscape rather than a showground spectacle.
The project was created with help from a skills scheme in Morecambe designed for young adults who are not in employment or education. About 20 young adults from the town worked alongside community groups on the garden, and Harry Holding said the canopy is meant to be “a space to bring that learning outside where you can connect with nature and all the plants around you.”
That hands-on element is what gives the Chelsea display its weight. It is not only a tribute to Morecambe’s most famous comic son, but also a practical attempt to build skills among young people who may not otherwise have had the same access to horticulture, crafts, arts and media. The garden is being presented as a global garden, but its roots are firmly local.
After Chelsea, the garden is planned to be permanently relocated to Morecambe, where it will become part of a 1.5-acre public community garden and serve as the gateway to Eden Project Morecambe. The attraction is set to overlook Morecambe Bay and will become a sister site to the original Eden Project near St Austell, Cornwall.
That move gives the project a clear next act. The garden is planned to officially open to the public in 2027, ahead of Eden Project Morecambe’s full opening in 2028, turning a temporary Chelsea exhibit into a permanent feature for the town. Morecambe has already marked Eric Morecambe’s centenary with mural, walks and a statue visit, and this garden now extends that tribute into something residents will be able to use every day.
The unanswered question is not whether the display will draw attention in London. It is whether the promise behind it — a community space, a skills pathway and a lasting landmark for Morecambe — will hold once the flower show lights are gone. On the available plans, the answer is yes.
