Where to spot spring flowers in and around Buckinghamshire

Whether you’re hoping to admire fresh carpets of snowdrops, daffodils or Instagram perfect cherry blossoms, the next couple of months are key. 

Here is where and when you can best see the blossoming nature this spring at National Trust locations in Buckinghamshire and neighbouring counties.

Snowdrops – out now

Stowe is ideal for spotting snowdrops. And it’s Stowedrops time right now with a special snowdrop walk to follow, which ends by March.

Canons Ashby (West Northamptonshire) has a carpet of snowdrops as you walk up to the house as well as along the paths and garden walkways.

Spring flowers at National Trust Stowe (Image: National Trust/Hugh Mothersole)

Daffodils - end of February/March

Waddesdon’s daffodils are so plentiful that they have an entire valley named after them. Swerving the shuttle bus and taking the 20min walk up to the manor will take visitors on a sunshine-yellow route through Daffodil Valley.

Primroses – February/March

Hughenden is the place for delicate, lemon-coloured primroses. They were former Hughenden resident Benjamin Disraeli’s favourite flower and they dot the banks and borders of the garden.

Cherry blossom - March

Greys Court’s cherry garden (Henley-on-Thames) is open for blossom season again this year with more cherry trees than ever before after it was closed for restoration and tree planting last year. 

Stowe has a brand-new blossom map highlighting all the best places to get a fix of blossom ‘hanami’. The largest and most magnificent of the cherry trees is next to the statue of Queen Caroline.

Magnolia – March

Frost can instantly cause the stunning creamy white and pink flowers to turn murky brown and fall to the floor.

Catch the magnolia whilst you can at the entrance to the walled garden and in the white garden by the tower at Greys Court. It’s a perfect selfie pic framed against the ancient walls.

Nuffield Place (opening March 1 in South Oxfordshire) has flowering magnolia, cherry trees and rhododendrons running around the edge of the woodland walk.

Dogs-tooth violets

The Wilderness Walk at Chastleton, Oxfordshire, has been restored and this has let more light onto the ground, resulting in many of the original plants returning after decades of being shaded out. One beautiful little plant which thrives at the edges of the wooded area is the delicate, start-shaped dogs-tooth violet. 

Mixed spring flower displays - March/April

The team at Greys Court have planted a mix of spring bulbs - anemone, narcissi, eythronium, hyacinth, muscari, scilla, tulips and iris. These are best seen in the patchwork planting on the Nut Walk. Watch out for the burnt orange coloured hyacinth by the Cromwellian building.

At Hughenden, the head gardener of the site Claire was inspired by the calming effect of cool waters in moonlight for the spring displays. There’s an abstract pattern in the round ‘pool’ beds of swans with their heads in the water, picked out with narcissi, polyanthus, iris and fragrant hyacinth.

National Trust Basildon Park gardens have gone more naturalistic with its planting in recent years to encourage the spread of the wild orchids in the summer. This has resulted in a profusion of naturalised spring flowers including daffodils, tiny, deep-blue violets, lemony primroses and cowslips.

Snakeshead fritillaries - April

This elegant plant has a curious pink chequerboard effect on its bulb-shaped flowers, which are balanced on the finest thin stem.

Snakeshead fritillaries at National Trust Stowe (Image: National Trust/Hugh Mothersole)

You can see snakeshead fritillaries at Stowe in March/April, dotted around Gurnet’s walk and they can also be seen at Greys Court in the walled garden.

Tulips - mid April-May

At Waddesdon this spring, more than 50,000 red and yellow tulips will bloom on the parterre, with more in the Aviary Garden in tones of vibrant pink and purple.

Appropriately enough, the Dutch garden at Ascott is another place to see tulips in April/May. There are 14 varieties planted in the circular beds leading to the sculptural Eros fountain at the head of the garden.

Bluebells - end April, early May

The woodland at Basildon Park is a great place to see bluebells in the dappled shade of the oak and beech trees. The ranger team have installed some forest bathing benches so that visitors can fully immerse themselves the delicate scent and cool blue aura of a bluebell wood.

Hughenden’s Woodcock Walk is a short walk, great for families, and takes in some beautiful Chiltern woodland filled with bluebells.

For those with mobility issues, Nuffield Place is a really good place to see bluebells. The bluebell wood surrounds the garden so it’s not far to walk, and there’s a good path around the edge.

Boarstall Duck Decoy is open Sundays and perfect for a family walk and play on the natural play trail. The bluebells carpet the woodland here.

Price of entry to the National Trust sites varies. Details for each site can be found via the National Trust website here.