I'm checking to see if anyone may be able to help me in my thus-far unsuccessful search for a plant item of particultar personal interest. The item I am searching for is the plant which gave John Lennon the title of his and Yoko's final album together, namely a Freesia which he stated was called the 'Double Fantasy'; chosen simply for its poetic qualities, I have no idea whether it was a cultivar or variety or simply a "mix" of various types, but I'm quite interested in at least viewing a picture of the specimen online, if not being able to outright own one. If anyone has any info as to where I might find more information regarding this, it would be greatly appreciated; thanx! - Rob
The key is that it is a double form that is called 'Fantasy', and not 'Double Fantasy'. If you search without the "double" perhaps you will find a vendor.
Would u happen to have a botanical name at all? just checkin', cause my searches are not narrowing down enough...and yeah, ur prob'ly right 'bout the "double" thing 'cause the only 'Double Fantasy' I've come across is a type of Leucocoryne. Maybe I'll try the actual Bermuda Botanical Gardens where John supposedly came across it...but I'm still open 4 suggestions, thanx! - Rob
RHS Plant Finder does list Freesia 'Fantasy' and mentioned the flower in their publication The Garden; page 333, May, 2002. It appears to be in the News section, so I don't know how much info it gives about the plant. Many of their articles are available online, but that article is not, so you would have to find a print copy. (We don't have it. I don't know what the article says.) Contacting the botanical garden may help. The plant in question may be a different cultivar or an undescribed selection that just carried that name at the garden for lack of a better one. If it inspired an album by John Lennon, you would think they would want to tell the story to promote interest in their garden. Good luck on the search, let us know what you more find,
" 'We have not been able to get the exact Double Fantasy freesia since the 1980s. It used to come from a Dutch bulb seller and then the Department of Agriculture stopped the importation of bulbs from Amsterdam, she said. We now get Dutch bulbs via the US and were trying to get the original freesia, which was a double cream colour. The Double Fantasy freesia is the number one question that is asked by people coming to the gardens on bus tours.' " http://www.theroyalgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051206/NEWS/112060146
Ron, T hanks for that great link! Even being a Beatle fan, and having paid homage to John Lennon at his little favourite corner of Central Part, NYC, I haven't even thought of the story behind Double Fantasy. Now, I know.
I know this topic is from over 10 years ago, but I'm starting to look into this story and wanted to get something down here. The double freesia variety 'Fantasy' was bred in the UK by my Grandfather, Jan Goemans. Ron B's link above is now dead, but the info in the quote is not true as Fantasy corms (not bulbs!!) would have been available from the UK. I know that a Japanese academic was trying to get in touch with my Father to look further into the Lennon/Fantasy connection, but my Father had a stroke before he could meet him. After we passed a message on to the Japanese people that my father could not meet him they sent a Lennon-themed Thousand Swans origami to him. I wish I could get in touch to say how much this was appreciated.
