We may be the best part of three weeks away from the equinox and a month from Easter but some of the loveliest gardens in England and Wales are already basking in the sights and scents of spring with horticulturists reporting they have never known flowers out so early.
Magnolia trees in gardens in the south of England and parts of Wales are blooming four weeks earlier than usual because of a largely mild winter and a particularly balmy, if wet, February, the National Trust said.
