Brenda Armstrong Prada

Influenced by the Lakeland stone and rugged landscapes of her native Cumbria, Brenda Armstrong-Prada loves stone and loves to ‘create stone’.  It therefore felt instinctive for her to capture and reflect the Lakeland stone walls and traditional stone troughs in her unique and elegant planter designs and naturalistic planting schemes.

On trips to Italy, from where her husband’s family originates, she realised that the Italians had long understood the secrets of natural Tufa stone, cherished for its elegance and strength in constructions such as the Colosseum in Rome. But later Tufa stone became recognised for its beauty and natural qualities, to create planters and elegant garden design features which adorn many a classical Italian garden.

Inspired to reflect and bring together elements of her native Cumbrian landscapes and the natural Tufa stone of Italy, she creates her own rustic and naturalistic planter designs and planting.  Her favoured planting combinations include stunning Alpines, that defy harsh northern winters, togther with the fleeting beauty of seasonal flowers.

PradaRustica has flourished from a time when Brenda was going through a harsh regime of cancer treatment and found great therapeutic benefits in nurturing plants and herbs, while designing and handcrafting her own unique stone-effect planters in which plants could thrive.  She admires her favourite Alpine plants that survive the bleakest and severest of times to flourish for another season; yet also treasures the fleeting splendour of plants that simply live for the moment in a single season. Relishing every new season that comes around she creates each planter and planting scheme from her own unique reflections.

Therapeutic, wellbeing and medicinal properties of plants and herbs, with aromatic and culinary health benefits, have long been established, but increasing evidence shows the psychological wellbeing benefits of nurturing living plants. PradaRustica aims to share the therapeutic value of plants and the natural gift of pure beauty and joy of living foliage and flowers in a naturalistic setting. What better gift to give?