Yvonne Innes, wife of The Seventh Python subject Neil and a star garden designer in her own right, made lots of news this past week with a tribute to their good friend George Harrison at the world's premier gardening event, The Chelsea Flower Show.
"From Life to Life: A Garden for George" was co-designed by George's widow Olivia and depicts George’s life in four stages – childhood, shown by a vegetable plot and a bike in rough grass; a Beatles and 1960s area; and representations of his older self and spiritual life. The 1960s section of the garden contains the names of his songs and a six foot-wide glass sun, reminding visitors of Here Comes the Sun, which Harrison wrote for the Beatles album Abbey Road in 1969.
The flowers – palmatum, anchusa and achillea – represent the psychedelic colours of the era.Yvonne worked closely with George before his death in 2001. She said: "I knew what an amazing landscape gardener George was. I also realised few people knew this side of him and decided to design a narrative garden of his life and passing over to the next life."
Many high-profile figures visited the garden, including, as you see, Ringo Starr (at right, with Olivia) and Queen Elizabeth herself.
