PICK OF THE DAY

MONTY DON’S PARADISE GARDENS, 9PM, BBC2

WE TALK of our gardens as being a little piece of paradise, but for desert regions, a green oasis with flowing water and plenty of shade really is Heaven on Earth. In the second and concluding episode of his series on Islamic paradise gardens, Monty Don is in Turkey, where he’s floored by Istanbul’s garish tulip displays (‘I’ve never seen anything like it’). He returns to his comfort zone in the more subtle Ottoman gardens of the Topkapi Palace, with their ‘stupendous’ wall tiles, before heading for the pleasure gardens and tomb gardens of India — including the Taj Mahal (pictured).