Protea

June 21, 2022

Lotty B inspired by Mike Nelhams King Proteas on Tresco

Photograph: Mike Nelhams

From as early as 1834, the Abbey Gardens on Tresco restarted life having fallen into disrepair in the 16th Century along with the St Nicholas Priory.

Pine and Cypress trees from Monterey in California were found to grow well and formed a protective shelter for the new planting. Generations of the Dorrien Smith family, up until the present day, have introduced new plants from across the globe and in 1955 Tom Dorrien Smith brought the fabulous Proteas from South Africa back home to Tresco.

Lotty's latest print: "Protea" was inspired by the King Proteas photographed above here by Mike Nelhams who, until earlier this year, was Head Gardener for very many years. Read his fascinating story here.

During his early tenure he had to cope with the extremely rare icy weather of January 1987 which destroyed much of the garden swiftly followed by the dreadful hurricane of January 1990. The replanting that followed included the Proteas, by now a stalwart in the Tresco landscape!

This classical "Decima" flared dress features Lotty's gorgeous Protea print - don't these ladies all look stunning in it:

Abi wearing Protea flared linen dress from Pink House

Ella Fanshawe in Decima dress, Protea blue and pink

Protea linen Decima dress in blue and pink by Lotty B

Wear the dress as a tunic style over jeans or leggings on cooler evenings, or use a a beach cover up. Either way this Protea print is the epitome of midsummer! 



Leave a comment

Comments will be approved before showing up.


Also in DIARY

Springtime

March 27, 2024

We hope that the weather where you are is better than where our UK HQ is, but in any event we think you will love this soft linen shirt in our green Fern print...

Read More

Striped Shell

March 19, 2024

Our new Striped Shell linens and swim shorts are available online now. We asked Lotty the story behind this design, as each and every print is inspired by her surroundings on Mustique

Read More

Vincy Parrot

March 06, 2024

Lotty B's Vincy Parrots from original drawings and paintingsThe new Parrot print is being released on Monday 11th March. In the build up, we wanted to share the inspiration behind the print in Lotty's own words..

 

Read More

Join the Island Family for 10% off your first purchase, be the first to in the know about our latest releases and get access to further subscriber-only offers

You may unsubscribe at any time. To see our privacy policy click here