Joining a gardening committee is not unlike joining a plant society or gardening club. You find deeply knowledgeable and experienced people, enthusiastic, hard-working beginners, wise but lazy eccentrics, frustrated but aspiring dictators, and people who may become lifelong friends.

Tips on listing to Nature and being your own groundhog, Peter’s recommendation for the best Almanac to guide through the seasons, and some mid-winter gardening advice.

Gardening in January? Of course! And your potted companions such as the Peace Lily, the Snake Plant, and the amusingly named Frizzle Sizzle need your attention.

If you’ve ever wondered, “what’s the point of poinsettias?”, our plant and garden guru Peter Gribble does his best to answer this seasonal question, with seven points to start with.

Let your garden go a bit wild this winter … and provide shelter and nourishment for a host of important insects — not least of all the bees.

Everything you need to know about pumpkin for the Thanksgiving / Halloween / Pumpkin Spice season.

From little seedlings great things grow, and even the balcony gardener might nurture a fir tree!

Sorghum might be a good choice if you’re thinking of living off the land from a West End balcony. Or maybe not.

The first harvest of the season includes the ever-popular tomato, including multi-coloured cherry ones.

Of tomatoes, eggplants, and Aunt Edith’s grow-op!

The secret that only gardeners possess … that gardening keeps you young!

March is seldom a hop, skip and jump into spring, but planting seeds indoors jump-starts the season. So it’s time to start those seedlings and look forward to your home-grown harvest.