Garden show honors the ‘quiet Beatle’: Harrison

LONDON -- Beatlemania erupted at London’s Chelsea Flower Show on Monday as Ringo Starr rolled up in a gaudily painted Mini to join George Harrison’s widow for the opening of a garden inspired by the “quiet Beatle.”

Photographers swarmed around as Starr drove up in the Mini decorated with symbols of the Hindu faith that Harrison embraced.

“Peace and love,” Starr said as he kissed Olivia Harrison on each cheek.

Harrison, who died of cancer in 2001, was an avid gardener.

The garden’s designer, Yvonne Innes, said the 76 species and varieties of flowers were designed to depict Harrison’s journey from the material to the spiritual world.

Titled “From Life to Life, a Garden for George,” the garden is arranged in four tiers linked by a path that is a mosaic of Venetian glass.

“I think it’s fantastic,” Beatles producer George Martin said of the garden. “It’s completely George -- it’s wonderful.”

Olivia Harrison said her husband enjoyed developing his garden on the sprawling grounds of Friar Park, the neo-Gothic mansion near London that he bought in 1970.

Harrison was pictured sitting in that garden on the cover of his solo album “All Things Must Pass.”

“Above all, in the garden, no one asks about business,” she added. “I think that’s why he liked it.”

The garden was sponsored by the Material World Foundation, which Harrison established in 1973 with his earnings from the album he released that year, “Living in the Material World.” The foundation sponsors art projects.

The world’s most famous flower show, Chelsea is a cross between trade fair, horticultural competition and showbiz ball, with about 600 exhibitors and more than 150,000 expected visitors.