THE National Trust annual flower count is a budding look at what's to come - and head gardeners in Wiltshire have been submitting their figures.

"Comparing the number of plants across our gardens on a set day every year gives us a real insight into how our gardens respond to weather patterns and is a useful ‘barometer’ for the season ahead," said Ian Wright, the National Trust garden’s advisor.

As the Trust it celebrates its 125th anniversary, it rose to the occasion this year as garden teams have been out and about counting their blooms.

This is the 15th year of staging the event across the South West, where 32 gardens took part.

The Courts Garden in Wiltshire recorded 54 species in bloom, including 10 varieties of snowdrops, crocuses, lesser celandine, narcissus and winter aconites. Across Wiltshire, there were 77 blooms per garden counted compared to only 16 in 2019.

National Trust garden teams have reported 2,663 plants in bloom, an increase of 13% on 2019. Spring is officially just peeking around the corner.

In a survey run with National Trust supporters on social media, the snowdrop has been voted the most loved spring flower, narrowly beating daffodils, which had previously been voted number one for two years running.

Many National Trust gardens are already open, although some properties take a break over the winter and will re-open nearer Easter. For more information and opening times see www.nationaltrust.org.uk/southwest