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I'd like to be under Chelsea in an octopus's garden with you. . .

Ringo makes waves on a visit to see Harrison-inspired exhibit at show

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Tuesday May 20 2008

Beatlemania sprung up all over at London's Chelsea Flower Show yesterday 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 Ringo drove up in the Mini decorated with symbols of the Hindu faith which Harrison embraced.

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

Harrison, who died of cancer in 2001, was a keen gardener, and the display at the flower show reflects that interest.

The Chelsea Flower Show is the premier event on Britain's gardening calendar, and Ringo got a more frenetic welcome than Queen Elizabeth.

"He always told me his first garden was his father's vegetable patch," Olivia said.

She said that as a teenager, Harrison was unhappy at being kicked out of a local park at closing time.

"He always said, 'One day I will have my own garden'."

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.

A big star in the garden is emblazoned with, "Sun, sun, sun, here it comes", from the cheerful song he composed for The Beatles' 'Abbey Road' album, released in 1969.

"I think it's fantastic," Beatles producer George Martin said of the garden. "It's completely George -- it's wonderful."

Olivia said her husband enjoyed developing the garden on the sprawling grounds of Friar Park, the neo-Gothic mansion near London he bought in 1970. Harrison was pictured sitting in that garden on the cover of his solo album 'All Things Must Pass'.

"He never really had a lot of help with the garden," she said. "It was amateur hour all the time.

"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.

Ringo's wife Barbara Bach also turned up for the opening.

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