Harry's Garden opens at Butterfly World

05 June 2009

MRF members Richard, Judi and Marie Mills joined celebrities Emilia Fox and David Bellamy at the opening of Butterfly World at Future Gardens, St Albans on 4 June, featuring a specially designed garden to celebrate the life of Harry Mills.

One of 12 unique plots on the 27-acre site, Harry's garden celebrates the life and personality of a boy mad about sports: Rugby posts mark the entrance to the garden, glass footballs and rugby balls sit on bales (cricket reference!) of hay, and tennis nets stretch around the garden. Designer Fern Alder captured perfectly the personality of an extremely vivacious and popular young man who loved nothing more than kicking a football around his garden.

Actress Emilia Fox, best known for playing Dr Nikki Alexander in Silent Witness, is backing the Butterfly World and the Future Gardens project. She was touched by Harry's story and donated money to fund the construction of Harry's Garden.


Friends from Harry's school and sports teams were also involved in populating the garden with plants. They were given seeds from a specially sourced variety of Sweet Pea called 'Our Harry' to grow in their own gardens, before transplanting them into Harry's garden in time for the opening. The result is a warm and inviting space which people can wander through and see facets of Harry's personality at every turn.


Judi Mills says: "We're so pleased with Harry's Garden and delighted to be part of the Butterfly World. Harry's is a garden created with love, and a joyful representation of our son's life. He would have loved it!"



The Future Gardens project is open to the public for four months, during which time the plots will evolve as the plants within them flourish and bloom. Visitors are recommended to visit more than once as the gardens will be markedly different as the summer wears on. Harry's garden will soon have huge sunflowers sprouting along the North side of the plot, and sweetpeas blooming in and around bales of hay positioned around the site.

Visit www.harrymills.com to read more about Harry and the development of the garden.