SPRING is coming to gardens earlier than usual this year, according to the Royal Horticultural Society.

Carpets of snowdrops are already covering RHS Garden Rosemoor — three weeks earlier than expected.

According to the RHS, all of this is caused by the current mild weather. Late-winter flowering bulbs, like snowdrops, need a period of cold to flower, which we had before Christmas, followed by mild weather which causes them to put up a flower spike and bloom.

If the weather changes, and gets suddenly cold again, the bulbs will simply sit and wait until it warms up to continue growing.  

These signs of early spring are common to all the RHS gardens and snowdrops can be seen at their best at Rosemoor near Torrington.