Diospyros Lotus

The Tradescants were 17th century gardeners who introduced many new plants to England. More than 160 varieties of fruit were listed amongst the inventory of plants grown at the Tradescants nursery in Lambeth, many of which are illustrated in the Orchard. The Garden Museum invited 40 of the worlds leading botanical artists to paint watercolours of fruit in response to the Orchard.

Esmée works as a scientific illustrator for the Naturalis Biodiversity Center When the exhibition at the Garden Museum was announced, Esmée had just started painting a date-plum tree, one of the oldest trees at the Hortus botanicus, Leiden, in The Netherlands. Research revealed that Diospyros lotus was a species the Tradescants had grown. Esmée has tried to capture the colour nuances in the fruit and to show their deliciously sweet taste. With this painting she wished to show the incredible beauty of this Diospyros lotus and its life cycle that has been continuing each year for almost 300 years.