National Trust gardens spring into bloom in Aylesbury and Buckingham

The National Trust is celebrating the first signs of spring appearing in gardens, orchards and parklands in Bucks.

Visitors can enjoy the sights, sounds and scents of a country garden in the spring at Stowe, near Buckingham, and Waddesdon, near Aylesbury.

Over the past few years, 338,200 bulbs have been planted in the gardens at Stowe with the help of community organisations, visitors and volunteers.

In the Lamport Garden and at the Queen Caroline Monument, the aconites are already coming out and the areas will soon be bright with cyclamen.

The pretty little purple flower of the cyclamen has upswept petals and variably patterned leaves and the yellow aconites stand out against them.

The snowdrops, or ‘Stowedrops', are already peeping through, and will develop in their masses throughout the Elysian Fields, Sleeping Wood and Lamport Garden.

A special 'Stowedrops' route map can be collected from the porch at New Inn or viewed online.

Delicate wood anenomes will soon be seen near the Temple of Concord and Victory at the head of the Grecian Valley.

On the outskirts of the garden, cowslips galore will bloom on Oxford Avenue .

These are quite rare flowers which enjoy the undisturbed ground around Stowe.

The deep yellow flowers are produced in clusters and can have 10 to 30 buds on a single stem.

A further 2,000 cowslips have been planted by the Rotunda.

A swathe of 200,000 bulbs has been planted from Gurnet’s Walk and Octagon Lake to Sleeping Wood and the Rotunda, which are set to form one of the few snakeshead fritillary meadows in Britain.

Look out for the chequered, bell-like flowers nodding on their long stems from April to May.

In May, Stowe's gardeners are hoping for a carpet of bright bluebells on Bellgate Drive, where staff and volunteers have planted 126,000 bulbs of the sweet-smelling flower.

They are looking forward to seeing the bluebells develop into a thick carpet of blue as they establish over the years.

For information on visiting Stowe, click here.

Please note, Stowe will be closed from April 4 to 7, reopening on April 8.

At Waddesdon this spring, see the garden begin to wake from its winter sleep, as scillas, camassia and cyclamen begin to flower and colour starts to creep into the spring bedding display. Over 34,000 bulbs will be used to recreate the Victorian splendour guests would have enjoyed in Baron Ferdinand’s time.

Around the grounds, each area will have its own colour scheme.

The Parterre will be a striking tulip and fritillaria display in mix of yellow, white, orange and red, while in the Aviary Gardens there will be a display of dazzling purple Alliums.

Meanwhile, in the wider grounds, Daffodil Valley, Tay Bridge and the Tulip Patch are not to be missed, as different varieties of daffodil begin to open to the sun.

Local schoolchildren joined forces with Waddesdon gardeners to plant another 85,000 bulbs last autumn.

For information on visiting Waddesdon, click here.