5 great ways to stay connected to nature this winter in Huntsville
Reading time: 4 minutes
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During winter months, less sunshine, chilly temps, bare branches and gray skies can sneakily weave around and ensnare us in a seasonal slump.
Good news: If you’re getting outside anyway, you’re on the right track.
Many studies show that being in nature improves our moods, lowers anxiety and helps manage stress, even in the wintertime.
For some simple and easy ways to stay in tune with nature over the next several weeks of winter, we talked to our friends and local experts on all things that connect people to plants, the team at Huntsville Botanical Garden. Read on for their tips and make plans to visit for a class or a peaceful stroll.
Quick guide
1. Take a nature class
Keep your mind growing through winter with an upcoming class at the garden, where the calendar includes adult classes about designing a garden full of edible plants, how to keep things green indoors, becoming a birder and even making cool hypertufa pots.
🌼 Designing an Edible Garden
- Instructor: Aaron Stiles
- When: Sat., Jan. 17, 10-11:30AM
- Details
🌿 Houseplants 101
- Instructor: Holly Hinton
- When: Thurs., Jan. 29, 6-7:30PM
- Details
🐦⬛ Birding for Fun & Research
- Instructor: Herb Lewis
- When: Sat., Feb. 14, 9-11AM
- Details
🪴 Hypertufa Class
- Instructor: Rebecca Turk
- When: Thurs., Feb. 19, 6-8PM
- Details
🎟️ GET A MEMBERSHIP for free regular admission, deep discounts on classes + other select events. For individuals, the cost is a wash after your third visit!
2. Read nature-inspired books
While it doesn’t carry the same benefit of being outdoors, reading nature-inspired books can certainly put your mind in the right place, sometimes transporting you to sunnier days in lands far away. (My fave is the childhood classic, “The Secret Garden.” What’s yours?)
At Huntsville Botanical Garden, nature-loving readers are winding down the last in a three-session series called “Botanical Bookworms,” gatherings that include speakers, guided walks and book talks.
And here’s what you need to know to go:
📚 Botanical Bookworms: Feathers and Fables
- When: Thurs., Jan. 22 + Sat., Jan. 24 | 10AM-Noon
- Details
3. Let nature inspire art
While many people can’t wait for this time of year to pile up their pretty seed catalogs, I have an artist friend who first whips out her watercolors, settles into a seat by a window overlooking her garden and creates colorful sketches of what she’d like to see out there come spring.
You don’t need training to create these just-for-you masterpieces, but if you’d like to brush up, Huntsville has several great places for art classes. And there’s also this cool class coming up …
🎨🌸 Make Your Own Watercolor Paints From Nature
- Instructor: Alison Webb
- When: Sat., March 28, 9:30AM-12:30PM
- Details
4. Handle your home gardening winter checklist
While it may not look like much is happening in your yard and garden, there’s much to be done to prep for when the action picks up in a couple of months.
📆 JANUARY
- Begin stratifying perennial seeds + late plantings of spring-flowering bulbs.
- Prune damaged, diseased or rubbing branches on shrubs + trees.
- Start seeds indoors for late winter planting
📆 FEBRUARY
- Fertilize fruit trees + prepare beds for spring annuals.
- Service garden tools, mowers + other equipment.
- Don’t forget to keep your bird feeders filled.
👀 SEE THE FULL CHECKLIST in the Winter 2026 edition of HBG’s “Garden Columns” magazine.
5. Stroll the Garden + bring your pup
Explore Huntsville Botanical Garden in a different way, getting a lay of the land, soaking in natural sunlight and appreciating details you may not notice when everything is blooming.
Plus, pups are welcome every day through February, before it goes back to Thursdays-only in March. Pup admission is the typical $5 (or show your Paw Pass).
Making your plans to visit Huntsville Botanical Garden this winter? We’ll see you there!
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