The National Arboretum at Westonbirt in Gloucestershire may be famous for its autumn colour but one of its best kept secrets is the spectacular spring blooms displayed by the exotic magnolias, camellias, rhododendrons, and azaleas. 
A taste of what you might see at Westonbirt (4 pictures)
After the peaceful scenes of winter with frosted conifers and evergreens, the early flowering rhododendrons and camellias begin to open for their spring display in February. Dinner plates Magnolias the size of dinner plates (right) bring a touch of the exotic in March, and Silk Wood bursts into life with wood anemones and glades of flowering cherries, bluebells and late flowering camellias in April. The colours are particularly striking from mid April when everything is still in flower and rhododendrons and azaleas are at their very best. Pocket handkerchief tree The horse chestnut trees are in flower and the endangered pocket handkerchief tree Davidia involucrata will stop you in your tracks with a stunning display in late May of large white bracts, which hang beside the small clusters of flowers, which give the plant its common name. Curator Simon Toomer said: "The spring trails will direct visitors to some of the best flower displays including two of the first Magnolias to flower, between mid March and early April, which are the Asian Pink Tulip Tree Magnolia campbelii, and the tallest magnolia in Britain (24 metres or 80ft tall), the Goddess Magnolia, Magnolia sprengeri 'Divi'". Exotic species "The numerous flowering trees and shrubs planted over Westonbirt's 200 year history now present us with a magnificent collection that still includes some of the world's most exotic species first collected by the Victorian plant hunters. "
A taste of what you might see at Westonbirt (4 pictures)
| Westonbirt Arboretum | | Venue | Westonbirt Arboretum, near Tetbury | | Opening times | Open all year between 10am and 8pm or dusk if earlier. | | Cost of admission | Adults £6.50, children £1, concessions £5.50 | | How to get there | Westonbirt Arboretum is situated three miles south west of Tetbury on the A433 (Tetbury to Bath Road). 10 miles north east of Junction 18 of the M4 and south east of junction 13 of the M5. | | Contact | 01666 880 220 or visit www.forestry.gov.uk/westonbirt |
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If you visit Westonbirt Arboretum in Gloucestershire this Spring you're in for a display of the exotic and wild.
