'Roses are in bud as well as in bloom'- How a mild winter is affecting Hestercombe Gardens

An extremely mild November is having an impact on many plants at Hestercombe, according to the estate's gardener.

Gabrielle Millar-Cahill who works at the Taunton estate told ITV News West Country that despite it being winter, the grass is still needing to be mowed and spring flowers are blooming.

She said: "We're definitely still noticing that the grass is still growing quite quickly, we're still mowing a lot.

"There's a lot of things still flowering that have kept flowering and have maybe had a second spring.

"Normally we would be putting the garden to bed for the winter at this time but everything is still looking quite nice."

Visitors have been commenting on how unusually green the garden looks. They have also expressed their concerns about the climate and the impact of global warming.

But gardeners at Hestercombe are not sure what will happen to the plants that still have a lot of growth, and whether they will be affected by the frosts in the coming months.

Unusually, some plants are still flowering, despite it being November. The delphinium are some of those still in full bloom here.

Gabrielle added: "They can flower in late summer and early autumn, so I suppose it's not unheard of that they would be flowering but they have definitely had a second flourishing and it's quite spectacular.

"Roses are in bud as well as in bloom and things that shouldn't be flowering now.

Some spring plants, like bergenia, are also flowering, something Gabrielle says is definitely unusual.