Why you could get roses at Christmas and no, we don't mean chocolates!

It may be more usually associated with holly and ivy – but this Christmas, gardeners can expect a bountiful display of roses.

Experts say the unusually late blooms have been brought on by this autumn's 'spring-like' conditions, as rain and mild temperatures have followed a record-breaking hot summer.

This means roses more traditionally associated with mid-summer have sent out fresh buds, and may bloom long into December.

Horticulturalist Toby Davis, who runs gardening firm Jolly Gardeners, told The Mail on Sunday that the classic English rose was 'flourishing' at the moment.

'The cooler temperatures and a bit of rain have resulted in plenty of fresh growth and strong flower buds,' he said. 'This year a well-fed, healthy rose will be flowering up to Christmas and beyond.'

This summer, temperatures rose above 28C – the threshold for heatwave conditions – somewhere in the UK on 55 days. This caused roses and other plants to become 'stressed' and go into survival mode, which can lead to them flowering more.

Horticulturalist Sally Newbrook, at RHS Garden Rosemoor in Devon, predicts that as many as half of its roses could be flowering at the end of the year.

She said: 'It's been a surprise to see how many roses are out because usually they are slowing down now, but they are ramping up again. It's very possible that we will have roses flowering in December. You'd normally have the odd one but it's likely that there'll be quite a few more.

'This year, the [particularly hot] summer has made them go dormant, so with the rain that's come in, it's like they're starting afresh. As long as we don't have a very harsh winter, they will keep going. There is so much fresh growth on lots of them.'

She added that other plants such as dahlias are also flowering later, while geraniums are thriving and even hydrangeas still have some colour.

'There's lots of green foliage, too, which you wouldn't usually expect. It's exciting to see so many things, it feels like a bit of a reward for a difficult summer.'

But Mr Davis warned the warmer seasons would make it 'very difficult' for traditional winter pruning and disease control.

'We are definitely going to have to adapt our schedules for roses and many other plants,' he said.