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:
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!
