Luculia pinceana

Native to Nepal, Luculia pinceana may not be as well known as the more common and larger Luculia gratissima from the Himalayas, but it is certainly worth searching for. It only grows about 10 feet high and has compact rosy pink tubular flowers in a tight head much like a hydrangea. The flowers have a very sweet, delicious musk-jasmine fragrance that can be smelled up to 20 feet away. While it is usually an evergreen shrub, in cooler climates it will become semi-deciduous. It is frost tender, and hardy to +25 degrees F, it is best grown in a warm sheltered position, filtered light in slightly acidic soils rich in organic material, but needs considerable summer watering. It can be propagated by seed sown in spring, or soft tip cuttings taken in late spring. It is an ideal addition to a garden where rhododendrons and camellias already successfully grow.