Schools are back, restrictions are beginning to ease and Spring is finally on its way!

As the weather warms up lots of beautiful flowers will be emerging in Richmond Park for people to enjoy on their walks.

We spoke to park staff for their thoughts on the best things to see this season.

Isabella Plantation

This is a 40-acre woodland garden in the park, which first opened to the public in 1953 and is best known for its evergreen azaleas, which line the ponds and streams.

Assistant park manager Jo Scrivener says at this time of year "the gardens are coming alive with the promise of warmer and longer days".

In the Isabella Plantation the camellias are still in flower, along with winter and early spring flowering shrubs such as corylopsis, edgeworthia and the start of the rhododendrons.

This beautiful area in the park used to be known as The Sleyt back in the 17th century – a name usually used for boggy ground or an open space between woods or banks.

By 1771, it was shown on maps as Isabella Slade.

Some people think Isabella may have been the wife or daughter of a member of staff – but others say it is more likely to be a version of the word Isabel which was used to mean dingy or greyish yellow – which is the colour of the soil in this part of the park.

In 1831, Lord Sidmouth, the park deputy ranger, fenced off 42 acres of the Isabella Slade to plant oak, beech and sweet chestnut trees as a crop for timber and gave the area the name it has today.

Jo says that as the weather improves "naturalised bulbs such as daffodils and wood anemone are emerging in grassland areas and woodland glades.

"If you visit Pen Ponds you will still see the wonderful, colourful effects of the winter stems of willow and dogwoods but it won't be too long until they begin to shoot with new leaves.

"If you take a stroll through the Bog Garden the perennial plants that died down for the winter are all beginning to emerge again and it won't be too long now until they start flowering.

"The damp ditches bounding this area are also lit up with the pale yellow flowers of our native primula, the cowslip.

"From now right through the Spring there will be lots to see flowering in the plantation, as the gardens begin their steady climb to peak flowering of the streamside azaleas in late April to Mid-May."

Pembroke Lodge Gardens

Another highlight is Pembroke Lodge Gardens where pansies, tulips and daffodils are starting to show, with the most flowers appearing in late April and Early May.

These gardens surround a Georgian Mansion – which is situated at the highest point in Richmond Park and is a popular wedding venue.

"As with the Isabella Plantation, woodland lawns are heavily naturalised with bulbs and you'll be able to see snowdrops, daffodils and crocus in flower now, alongside the emerging pale yellow flower of cowslips," says Jo.

"The gardeners have been busy finishing off cutting back the last of the remaining seed heads of the perennials, mulching beds and pruning roses and climbers.

"The fresh growth of all these plants is beginning to emerge alongside the early acid flowers of the euphorbias and the waxy dark purple and creamy white flowers of hellebores.

"It's an exciting time for all gardens, they're full of hope for spring and something that we're all looking forward to enjoying!"

The Upper Lodge Water Gardens, Bushy Park

Situated in Bushy Park are the Upper Lodge Water Gardens – which were built by the 1st Earl of Halifax in 1710.

They were later used as a hospital for Canadian troops in the First World War, then as swimming pools as part of an open air school for East End Boys with respiratory diseases.

During the Second World War, the site was used as US barracks before it was taken over by the Ministry of Defence.

After this the site fell into disrepair and closed, only reopening again in 2010 after a major restoration project.

Waterhouse Woodland Garden

Also in Bushy Park is the Waterhouse Woodland Garden, which was created in 1925, merging together two early 19th Century plantations.

New paths and gardens were created in the late 1940s and it is now enjoyed by lots of local ramblers.

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