Musician George Harrison’s gardener persona may come as a surprise to some, but the man’s passion for flora was hardly a secret. The Beatles’ lead guitarist came out as a gardener in a 1979 Rolling Stone magazine interview and then went into the subject in detail in his 1980 autobiography, I Me Mine, which he dedicated “to gardeners everywhere.”
This spring, the Marie Selby Botanical Garden’s Downtown Campus is delving into that aspect of Harrison’s life with a new exhibit. “George Harrison: A Gardener’s Life” (through June 25) is the ninth installment of the Selby’s annual Jean & Alfred Goldstein Exhibition Series, which is dedicated to exploring the work of major artists dealing with the environment.
A longtime lover of nature (he wrote The Beatles’ hit “Here Comes the Sun”), Harrison’s full immersion as a horticulturist began not long after The Beatles disbanded, and the 27-year-old purchased an 1889 estate known as Friar Park in Oxfordshire, England. There, away from the media and his rabid fans, Harrison went to work revitalizing the property’s long-neglected 32-acre grounds.
“In the garden, you see all the seasons come and go,” said Harrison in a 1981 Good Morning America interview. “The flowers don’t answer you back.”
The Selby’s exhibition highlights Harrison’s efforts at Friar Park and how he expanded the topiary displays its previous owner had started. Featured in the show will be a showcase of objects and ephemera from the Selby’s Museum of Botany & the Arts and a tour of horticultural vignettes in the venue’s Tropical Conservatory—all set to a soundtrack featuring Harrison’s music and lyrics.
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Text by Florian Jouin
Photos courtesy of Marie Selby Botanical Garden
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