Emmaus Inspires Show Garden
Medal-winning garden designer Bill Butterworth is so inspired by Emmaus that he has created a garden that tells the story of the early days of the charity.
He has based his design on the severe winter of 1954, when Abbé Pierre broadcast a radio appeal to the French public for donations. The overwhelming response, described by Le Figaro as ‘an Uprising of Kindness’, led to the rapid spread of Emmaus Communities across France and beyond.
The central water feature in the garden holds 19 frothing and foaming stacks of plates, each stack representing one of the 19 Emmaus Communities in the UK.
The planting in the decorative garden has been carefully selected for its edible value, its symbolic reference to the mission statement of the charity, and for the visual effect in simulating the feel of a typical French orchard.
Companions from Emmaus Cambridge and volunteers from the College of West Anglia are helping Bill to build the garden. After the show, the garden will be relocated to the Emmaus Community in Cambridge where it will provide a source of nutritious grains, fruits, vegetables and healing herbs, as well as a restoring place to rest and relax.
The Hampton Court Palace Flower Show runs from 6th-11th July. See the planting list for the garden here or download it below.
More information
Hampton Court Palace Flower Show website
Published on 21st June, 2010
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