SPRING is on its way and with it comes a beautiful array of flowers sure to brighten up your day.

Reporter SOPHIE BROWNSON looks at the places in Gwent to see the best blooms.

GWENT may seem like an unlikely haven for the some of the best wildflowers this spring but don’t be fooled, as there are beautiful blooms to be seen in some of our woodlands and parks.

Gwent Wildlife Trust’s local wildlife officer Andy Karran said the best place to see spring favourites including snowdrops and wild daffodils has to be the many Gwent Wildlife Trust woodlands such as the Springdale Farm Reserve and Margaret’s Wood.

“Springdale Farm Reserve near Usk is a great place to see primroses and bluebells,” he said.

“There is not a great deal out at the moment but the first spring flowers out now are snowdrops.

“The Lesser Celandine, which is like a little buttercup, is also one of the first ones that pops its head up.

“Wild daffodils will come in the next few weeks and Margaret’s Wood, a Whitebrook area of the Wye Valley, is a good place to see these coming up in March.”

Springdale Farm offers one of Wales’ best displays of woodland flowers. The farm commands spectacular views of the surrounding landscape, including the Usk Valley, the Brecon Beacons and Wentwood Forest.

A diverse range of habitats can be found on the Trust’s first working farm and it is managed by tenants using traditional wildlife-friendly farming practices.

A restoration project has taken place within ‘Miskey’s Meadow’ which was formerly covered with bracken, and is now transformed into a mosaic of grassland, scrub and bracken, benefitting a range of flowers and the adder’s-tongue fern.

In spring the display of woodland flowers is breathtaking with violets, wood anemone, bluebell, early-purple orchid and moschatel among some of the specialities.

Meanwhile Margaret’s Woodland Reserve is situated on a steep hillside which acts as an important refuge for native wild daffodils.

The beautiful woodland is situated on the lower slopes of the Whitebrook valley, in the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

March is a good time to see this reserve, when a mass of native wild daffodils carpets the open areas below the woodland.

It is also a particularly good site for ferns – including populations of the rare oak fern.

Mr Karran also mentioned Priory Wood in the Bettws area as a good place to see the flowers but said there is less variety here than others.

Anna Jones of Usk Garden Centre recommended some of the parks in Gwent as the best place to see flowers this spring and said unusual flowers to look out for this spring are the snake head fritillary flower.

“It’s a really nice bulb,” she said.

“The pattern in the flower cup is like scales on a snake’s skin.

“People want to explore the local parks such as the one in Abergavenny and in the woodland areas.”

It may be slightly early for the blooms but there’s plenty available earlier at the Usk garden centre ranging from snowdrops to crocuses.

Other safe bets include Belle Vue Park for some lovely daffodils and Linda Vista Gardens in Abergavenny for beautiful displays of springs brightest in their masses.

The garden was the private garden of Linda Vista villa which was built in 1875.

It changed ownership in 1901, and again in 1925 when it was acquired by the Whitehead family who also owned a steelworks at Ebbw Vale.

In 1957 they sold the garden to the Abergavenny Corporation for use as a public park.

After this, the District Council added further land to the west and south (Castle Meadows) which extended the garden.

The Royal Horticultural Society says that snowdrops also provide the welcome assurance that the brighter days of spring are on their way and are surprisingly varied in height, flower size, shape and even colouring.

Given a moist soil they will multiply into drifts and provide plenty of plants to share with fellow gardeners.

Typically flowering from January to March time, this hardy flower is easy to look after and is suitable for any garden.

Daffodils are similarly hardy and flower from February to early May, they are ideally planted from September and October.

The RHS added that tulips are amongst the most popular of bulbs, valued for their brilliant flower colours and shapes. They usually flower from March to May and make ideal bedding plants combined with annual or biennial planting. Tulips can also be useful for containers and some varieties can be naturalised in grass. Tulips grow best in fertile, well-drained soil in full sun, sheltered from strong winds.