HE knows his fuchsias from his foxgloves and is more at home at his local florist's than a toy shop.

Meet Dylan Reese - possibly Southampton's youngest horticultural enthusiast.

The four-year-old's parents thought Dylan's gardening craze might be a passing phase but for two years now he has been utterly obsessed with plants.

He instinctively knows where his local florists are, can name ten different varieties and even corrects family members if they guess incorrectly.

Sadly the eager plant lover was not old enough to visit last week's Chelsea Flower Show but instead enjoyed the incredible displays on television in the comfort of his own home.

Grandma Anne Drummond, of Bitterne Park, said: "It is such a shame he would have been in flower heaven but you have to be five years old to visit and he wouldn't be admitted.

"We were watching the show and I said look there's some snowdrops and he said No nanny, they are lily of the valley.' It's quite remarkable.

"He is interested in Venus fly traps at the moment and asks all sorts of questions I can't answer about how different plants are grown," she added.

The budding gardener once gave mum Joanne, of Sandringham Road, Bitterne Park, a fright after disappearing on the way to an optician's appointment, only to be discovered at a nearby florist with his little green fingers wrapped around a fuchsia - his favourite flower.

The youngster first became mesmerised by beautiful blooms at the tender age of one and now he can carry them home his mum is forever finding secret handfuls of dried petals, ladybirds and insects in his bedroom.

She said: "His eyes used to naturally go towards flowers.

We thought it was just the colours he was attracted to but when he was two years old he started to try to talk about them and it was the first thing he drew and since then we haven't been able to get him to draw much else.

"Last summer I caught him putting leaves in a bowl and when I asked him what he was doing he said he was making compost."