GARDENERS at a country estate near Dorchester don’t know whether to laugh or cry after the dry weather produced the finest display of flowers seen since the drought of 1976.

The hottest April on record has fooled hundreds of species of plants into believing it is summer already and they have bloomed weeks ahead of schedule.

They have also been tricked into producing a glut of flower buds and seeds at a rapid rate because they think winter is around the corner.

As a result scores of rhododendron and azalea plants have yielded bountiful blooms of all colours.

And they have been complemented by other species, such as magnolia and davidia trees, that shouldn’t be flowering until mid-summer.

The 20 acres of open gardens at Minterne House, near Dorchester, is now awash with a sea of yellows, whites, pinks, blues, reds and purples.

But while gardeners there are revelling in one of the best floral spectacles in a generation, it may prove to be an ominous sign for the summer ahead.

Ray Abraham, head gardener at 17th century Minterne House, said: “In all my gardening years, which is the best part of 45 years, I have only known one year like it and that was 1976 – the year of the drought.

“I do hope that is not an ominous sign of the summer ahead of us.

“The weather conditions of last winter and this spring has made everything want to reproduce and create more flowers.

“We had an extremely cold winter which made the plants think they had to produce more flower buds rather than leaf buds in order to create more seeds to have a better chance of germination.

“The hot weather has brought out all of the plants at almost the same time, they think it is summer already and are producing seeds as fast as possible before the onset of autumn and winter.

“It is a magnificent colourful scene that has got to be seen to be believed and the perfume you get from some of the plants is staggering. But some of them are beginning to show some sign of stress from the lack of rain.”

Members of the public can see the display of flowers at the gardens of Minterne House which are open every day until November 9.