As my toddler explores the world mouth-first, I’m reminded that, this season, the garden’s quiet beauty is best discovered through every sense

When the temperature drops, how do Britain’s birds, beasts and plants keep the chill at bay? John Lewis-Stempel reveals Nature’s own thermals

The literary locations that inspired ten of our favourite festive stories and wintry tales, plus where to stay to enjoy them for yourself

Winter has a way of slowing life down in the gentlest of ways, setting in like a quiet spell or a morning’s frost. Days feel softer and nights longer, the darkness illuminated by the warm glow of ligh

Caricatured as a suburban grouch, Philip Larkin was, in fact, an attentive and astute chronicler of Nature. On the 40th anniversary of the poet’s death, Richard Barnett celebrates his lifelong love of the English countryside

The garden in winter can often seem like something to be endured rather than enjoyed for gardeners who dash to garden centres at Easter, departing with cars brimful of petunias and bags of compost. Bu