The Children with Cancer UK: Mr. Happy, Mr. Worry Hill

Did you know...

• The Mr Worry side features a fine dry stone wall, planted with Cedrus deodara 'Feelin' Blue', enclosing a garden filled with blue Salvia patens and catmint. This represents the concerns that children and their families have once diagnosed with cancer. Inside Mr Worry's side of the hill, a wall planted with ferns includes a water feature, representing tears and worries
• The Mr Happy side of the hill reflects the resilience of the person and their family. Planting is bright with purple and red Echinacea, and the garden is surrounded by a white picket fence, complete with pink rambling roses. Inside, a screen shows Mr Men cartoons and a 'Catch the Worm' game represents overcoming the challenge of cancer
• The central path that leads through the garden is formed by stepping stones; these are engraved with the story of the charity. From here, the impressive scale of the hill can be seen, representing the overwhelming feelings that people with cancer and their families face

About the garden

Set within ‘Misterland’, the home of the well-known Mr. Men and Little Miss characters, this garden is a fun place, enticing to children and is intended to convey the emotions experienced by families living with cancer.

The key theme is a split hill and house featuring iconic Mr. Men illustrations, with one side representing happy and the other worry. Bright shades of yellow and orange symbolise the feelings of happiness and shades of blue and purple symbolise feelings of worry. Colourful and contrasting planting wraps around the hill. Key plants include Echinacea, Felicia amelloides and Rudbeckia, which all have daisy faces reminiscent of the laughing daisies of the Mr. Men titles. While in Mr. Worry’s garden Cedrus deodara 'Feelin Blue' is set within feature stone circles that represent tears and sadness. The passage between the two sides celebrates 30 years of Children with Cancer UK.