Ye (Gently) Weeping Garden

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Lucy, where are you?

By all rights, this should be populated with cherry top Les Pauls, not white Strats!

Perhaps they don't know proper history, or figure the Strats are more affordable and less prone to damage by sun and the humidity of an enclosed garden...?

"Featured throughout the exhibition are a selection of George’s music and lyrics, as well as excerpts from Came the Lightening, a book of poems by Olivia Harrison dedicated to George and reflecting on their time together. The resulting multi-sensory experience highlights George’s connection to nature and celebrates his life and legacy through the power of plants."

-- George Harrison: A Gardener’s Life​

On view February 9 – June 29, 2025, Downtown Sarasota campus, Tropical Conservatory, Gardens, The Museum of Botany & the Arts​

Ye Palm Garden: This striking palm garden references the cover design of Harrison’s solo album, Living in the Material World, released in 1973. The pun on the double meaning of palm was, in this case, irresistible.

September 16, 2024 | Sarasota, FL ─ Marie Selby Botanical Gardens will present George Harrison: A Gardener’s Life as the ninth installment of its annual Jean & Alfred Goldstein Exhibition Series, which examines the work of major artists through the lens of their connection to nature.

The exhibition, which will be on view February 9 through June 29, 2025, at Selby Gardens’ Downtown Sarasota campus, will explore the deep and meaningful connection between musician George Harrison –

best known as the lead guitarist of the legendary rock band The Beatles – and the pastime of gardening, which became his greatest passion.

George’s love of gardening was an integral part of his identity. In an interview in Rolling Stone magazine in 1979, the renowned singer-songwriter described himself as “just a gardener.” His strong association with gardening was further illustrated in his 1980 autobiography, I Me Mine, dedicated “to gardeners everywhere.”

In 1970, not long after The Beatles disbanded, the then 27-year-old George purchased the estate of Friar Park in Henley-on-Thames, a small town in the county of Oxfordshire, England. Built by an eccentric lawyer named Sir Frank Crisp in 1889, this once grand Victorian mansion with spectacular gardens had fallen into disrepair. With the help of his wife, Olivia Harrison, George was able to revitalize the neglected property, consisting of the mansion, lodges, and 32 acres of grounds. It was in this process that George’s love of gardening began to flower.

George’s free approach to gardening combined creativity, spontaneity, whimsy, humor, and joy. This approach has inspired the upcoming exhibition at Selby Gardens, which will combine a dynamic display of objects and ephemera in the Museum of Botany & the Arts with stunning horticultural vignettes in the Tropical Conservatory and throughout the gardens of the 15-acre Downtown Sarasota campus. Featured throughout the exhibition will be a selection of George’s music and lyrics, as well as excerpts from Came the Lightening, a book of poems by Olivia Harrison dedicated to George and reflecting on their time together. The resulting multi-sensory experience will highlight George’s connection to nature and celebrate his life and legacy through the power of plants.

Jennifer Rominiecki, president and CEO of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, stated, “Selby Gardens is thrilled to explore George Harrison’s love of gardening and the inspiration he drew from it. We are honored to present this exhibition to our visitors, demonstrating the many ways Harrison connected with nature.”

https://selby.org/wp-content/uploads/GeorgeHarrison-Brochure_8x10.pdf

 

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Selby Gardens’ New Exhibit Pays Tribute to George Harrison​

And his widow Olivia shared memories and poetry related to her late husband at a special event on Tuesday.

Selby Gardens’ entrance view of George Harrisonn
IMAGE: HARRISON FAMILY/RYAN GAMMA PHOTOGRAPHY

Fans of George Harrison and Selby Gardens may have already indulged in a stroll through the downtown gardens’ current Jean & Alfred Goldstein Exhibition, George Harrison: A Gardener’s Life, which opened over the weekend. More on that in a bit. First, a highlight of the events planned around the show: a luncheon talk welcoming the late Beatle’s widow, Olivia Harrison, who shared memories of and poetry dedicated to her husband.

Harrison, who died in 2001, may have been best known to the world as a songwriter and musician, but he considered himself a gardener above all, especially when it came to his estate in Oxfordshire, England, Friar Park. He purchased the 32-acre property, much in need of rehabilitation, shortly after the Beatles disbanded, and began the work of bringing it back to life.

“This garden really saved him,” said Olivia in a talk with gardener, author and historian Robin Lane Fox in Selby’s Event Center Tuesday. “He needed a place for solace and quiet. He said he gave his nervous system to the Beatles.” The restoration of Friar Park was mutual for owner and property.

Olivia Harrison
IMAGE: HARRISON FAMILY/RYAN GAMMA PHOTOGRAPHY

Olivia Harrison with gardener, author and historian Robin Lane Fox in Selby’s Event Center on Tuesday.
IMAGE: HARRISON FAMILY/RYAN GAMMA PHOTOGRAPHY
Olivia recalled how, growing up in Liverpool, George often scraped ice from the inside of the family home’s windows, dressing in bed to stay warm. “He always dreamed of palm trees,” she said, and eventually came to own and care for a garden in Maui as well as his Friar Park home.

She also touched on George’s childhood in Liverpool with the comment that, “Liverpool had parks, and he went as a child. But at night they’d lock the gates and the children had to go home. George’s father told me that George said, “‘One day I’m going to have my own park.’”

George didn’t have a master plan when he first acquired Friar Park, according to Olivia. “If he saw a tree he liked, he just planted it. It was the same way he wrote his music. No plan, but he had a vision.”

George reflecting in Selby’s Koi Pond
IMAGE: TERRY O’NEILL/RYAN GAMMA PHOTOGRAPHY

The Harrisons sometimes worked together, sometimes with friends as well as professionals, in nurturing the gardens at Friar Park. “But there came a time when I took the kitchen garden, and he did a woodland walk. I asked him, ‘How’s your garden going?’ And he said, ‘It’s not mine, it’s everyone’s. And anyway, it’s not a competition.’”

At his estate, George divided his time between his recording and writing studio work and his gardens, but he was, Olivia said, “very focused, not dealing with the modern-day distraction we all seem to be afflicted by today.” And in response to a question from Fox, she said that she never felt any envy of George’s love for his music or his gardens. “I would take second fiddle to the creative process any day,” she said. “And after George died, the garden saved me, like it did him. When I’m in the garden now, I say, ‘Thank you.’”

One more Friar Park-related story: The property changed hands a number of times from the mid-19th century, with the most prominent owner being the eccentric lawyer Sir Frank Crisp, with whom George felt an affinity. But before George purchased it, it had been most recently been used as a Catholic school, “and they prayed for someone to buy it,” according to Olivia. “Then George turned up, looking [with his long dark hair and modest attire] like a beautiful Jesus.”

Guests at the luncheon (where Olivia also sold and signed copies of her book, Came the Lightening, 20 poems written for George), had the opportunity before and after to get up close with the exhibit, both outside and inside in various displays taking after Crisp’s old-timey names (Ye Dial Garden, incorporating sundials; Ye Alpine Garden, mimicking George’s Friar Park Matterhorn; and Ye Gently Weeping Garden, where guitars hang amidst weeping plants, water sounds and music. There’s also a maze for getting lost in, lots of garden statuary and water features, and both George’s music to hear and Olivia’s poetry to read as guests pass through.

Detail of Kolam Garden
IMAGE: RYANGAMMAPHOTOGRAPHY

Garden gnome with bromeliads in the Tropical Conservatory
IMAGE: RYANGAMMAPHOTOGRAPHY

Inside Selby’s Museum of Botany and the Arts, visitors will also see old photos, records, videos of George in his garden, and other vintage traces of his “gardener’s life.” The exhibit continues through June 29. For full details, visit selby.org.

 

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