Foreigners The tens of thousands of rhododendrons in the Goyt Valley have multiplied from plants brought back as ballast in the Mariquita, the ocean-going yacht of the Grimshawe family of Errwood Hall. But some of the most exotic plants ever to be brought back to the Peak were collected by the 6th Duke of Devonshire and Joseph Paxton, who built the Great Conservatory at Chatsworth. Earlier Dukes collected too. In 1741 James Clegg wrote: ‘We were treated with an ananas or pineapple of the most delicious taste and flavour, the growth of the High Peak and ripe on the 23rd of February in a hard winter.’Paxton also had success growing bananas. From the 19th century, one of the largest nursery owners in Derbyshire was James Smith & Sons. In Victorian times they had nine nurseries at Darley Dale with many thousands of trees, but the firm was particularly proud of its one million rhododendrons and “flowers of every clime - from Indus to the Pole”. Rhododendrons were particularly popular. After their first introduction to gardens from Turkey in 1763 they were planted extensively in the smartest gardens and estates. A reporter from the High Peak News informed readers in May 1899 that the rhododendrons were in full bloom in the pleasure gardens of Stancliffe Hall at Darley Dale, where “some of the finest rock gardens in the kingdom” were newly open to the public. The Hall had until recently been owned by Lady Whitworth, widow of Sir Joseph the great inventor. Unfortunately, one of these popular imports proved to be a killer in disguise. Just one variety, Rhododendron Ponticum, has now become a serious nuisance in woodlands where it smothers and chokes the native species and is very difficult to eradicate. It is only Rhododendron Ponticum which behaves in this way. The other members of its family are attractive and colourful (which Ponticum is not.) More Pictures Plants and Trees