AN OXFORDSHIRE garden says its annual snowdrops weekend may be a washout this year because they have all bloomed three weeks early.

Waterperry Gardens, near Wheatley, has never seen anything like it, and trees that should blossom in April are flowering now.

The early arrivals are all down to the mild winter, including the warmest and wettest December on record in the UK.

Horticultural manager Robert Jacobs said: “There are snowdrops everywhere – it’s a complete nightmare.”

Waterperry has held snowdrop weekends on the last two weekends of February for at least 15 years to show off its collection of more than 60 varieties.

The event attracts 800 visitors over the four days, so for some snowdrop lovers it has become a permanent fixture.

Mr Jacobs said he was confident the gardens would still have a healthy display for next weekend – February 20-21 – but he added: “That last weekend there is a chance there won’t be any, especially because this wet weather has knocked them right back.

“People will turn up on the day regardless.”

Mr Jacobs, who manages all indoor and outdoor plant growing at Waterperry, said: “I’ve been gardening here for the last 37 years and I’ve never known a winter this mild.

“We’ve got a lot of blossom on the ornamental plums that normally come in March and we’ve got almonds flowering that should be March into April.”

Farmers across Oxfordshire have already said cauliflowers, spring onions, strawberries and other crops are up to three months early.

Like many of them, Mr Jacobs said his biggest fear was that if Waterperry’s five acres of apple and pear trees blossomed early, one late frost could wipe out their blossoms, and therefore fruit, for the whole year.

This weekend may not be the best for a visit to Waterperry. Rain is forecast all day tomorrow, with temperatures at a maximum of 4C, and Sunday, while dry, will not be much warmer.