THIS winter's unprecedented rain and unrelenting storms have made it a worrying few months for the team at The Garden House at Buckland Monachorum — but spring has definitely sprung now.

Staff at the gardens say although it has been difficult to keep up with planned winter work, there is great relief that the garden's wonderfully diverse 10 acres have survived relatively unscathed — apart from being rather more damp underfoot than usual.

A spokesperson said: 'Some plant species appear to be relishing the conditions. Camellias are heavily in bloom a whole month earlier than last year and, when combined with the garden's varied hellebores, sweet-scented daphnes, narcissus and profuse late-flowering snowdrops, the impact of spring has never been better. The spring bulb meadow and front lawn borders are attracting particular admiration.'

The Garden House has now opened for the 2014 season, and visitors will be aware of further garden development. The extreme weather of the last few years has meant that the much-loved South African garden has struggled to flourish, with high numbers of more tender plants failing to thrive on the north-facing slope of a Dartmoor garden.

Refurbishment of this area is now underway, and the exciting new 'summer garden', designed by head gardener, Nick Haworth, will take shape this year. Planting will include flowing swathes of herbaceous perennials in rich colours. The new design will also significantly extend the season of colour – from June to early autumn.

Each spring, the visitor attraction's new season is kick-started by the prestigious annual Fortescue Garden House Lecture. Entitled 'Tresco Abbey Garden – a Mediterranean Paradise', this year's lecture will be delivered by Tresco's garden curator, Mike Nelhams FIHort, AHRHS on April 4. Mike, one of the country's most outstanding horticulturalists and an engaging speaker, will talk about Tresco's unique plant collections. It will also be an opportunity to find out how another garden on a windswept Atlantic island survived the winter storms.