Poet William Wordsworth called the snowdrop a "venturous harbinger of spring" and visitors who come to Mapperton, near Beaminster, for Snowdrop Sundays this month will see sweeps of them in the lower garden.

Mapperton Gardens will be open for Snowdrop Sundays on Sunday, February 5 and Sunday, February 12 from 11am to 4pm. 

The Coach House café will be open offering hot drinks and delicious cakes. Selected plants, including snowdrops, will also be on sale. 

Visitors will also encounter many hellebores – the Lent lily, Corsican and stinking hellebores – all around.

Camellias are coming through, especially on the north façade of the house, where Bow Bells and the single white camellia are already making a show.

The early crocus (thomasinianus) is making a blue carpet under the great Acer Griseum beside the camellias; and daffodils are sneaking out.

The Orangery is warm and a delight to sit in with the citrus trees and the tree ferns (dicksonia antarctica and squarrosa) sheltering and the climbing rose, Niphetos, about to flower. 

Admission is £5 per adult and under 16s are free. Tickets can be bought on arrival. 

Don't miss this chance to say goodbye to winter and welcome this first harbinger of spring!

For more information, visit mapperton.com