- Rhododendrons can’t be beat for sheer beauty and floral fragrance.

In this version of paradise, bountiful rhododendrons perfume the air in a breathtaking display of beauty and grace.

AParadise Garden, separate from the world around, is an abundantly planted, perfumed place of peace and spiritual refreshment. Some Paradise Gardens from times past still exist in Iran even today, irrigated with water from mountains piped from far away in the climate of the desert. Paradise Gardens – bountiful, beautiful escapes from the outside world – were and are being made around the world. Is your garden your own personal paradise?

In my imagination of paradise, I saw great white and perfumed clouds enclosing a winding path. Well, I set to work, with some sturdy helpers, to make this dream garden come true. Large, perfumed rhododendrons were shifted from other parts of the garden. More, new, rhododendron bushes were planted.

First of all was R. edgeworthii. This species rhododendron is spread widely across the Himalayas where it usually grows epiphytically in trees. I have seen it growing wild on a rock, thriving just in decomposing litter. So plant it in perfectly drained soil or on a decaying log.

We also planted the perfumed species R. formosum. Formosum means beautiful. R. edgeworthii is the mother of many hybrids. R. edgeworthii was crossed with

R. formosum to produce ‘Fragrantissimum’.

This plant is one of the most fragrant of all shrubs.

But oh what a lanky bush. And it’s prone to spots. It’s still worth growing. I have several plants all close together. They receive judicious pruning.

With less charm but certainly more compact, floriferous and more resistant to fungal infections is the hybrid ‘Princess Alice’. It too has perfume redolent of the spice markets of the east.

R. nuttallii, another Himalayan species rhododendron that is leggy and epiphytic, has huge, perfumed and heavily textured trumpet-shaped blooms. These flowers are held in loose, open trusses. It too requires excellent drainage. We have a little stumpery. Here we have planted both

R. edgeworthii and R. nuttallii amongst the roots of wind fallen tree stumps turned upside down. These rhododendrons are loving the particular conditions.

The Chinese form of this species R. sino nuttalli, was crossed with R. edgeworthii in New Zealand by one of the Jury family of Taranaki (renowned for their plant breeding programmes) to create ‘Floral Dance’. It bears loose trusses of large yellow-throated white flowers which are flushed pink in the bud. This hybrid is easier to grow than either of its parents but do give it wonderful drainage in a leafy soil that does not dry out. An open site will result in more compact growth. Expect it to grow to about 2m. The plant in the Larnach Castle Garden is wider than its height.

Mark Jury made a cross between R. sino nuttallii and ‘RW Rye’, a small yellow rhododendron. The resulting perfumed hybrid has golden buds opening to the loose truss of large , trumpet-shaped blooms which are a heavy cream with a golden throat. Mark named this gorgeous rhododendron ‘Floral Sun’. Our plant was planted on a little mound (we are mindful of drainage) in an open but partly shaded site. It blooms abundantly; a true plant for paradise.

In gardens, there is another dimension. I don’t just mean time. I mean perfume. The concept: the Paradise Garden arose in Persia at least a thousand years BC.