Think of the festive season and you probably think of being snuggled up inside by a roaring fire - but put a new gardening book on your Christmas wish-list, and you could be thinking of your spring planting too.

Whether you’re a grow-your-own beginner, or a more experienced enthusiast wanting to try something new, there’s a wealth of inspirational and educational horticultural reads out there.

Here’s a few of the best...

Of Rhubarb And Roses: The Telegraph Book Of The Garden, edited by Tim Richardson (Aurum, £25)

Editor and garden writer Tim Richardson has trawled through the Telegraph’s gardening column archives to find some splendid anecdotes from many of the plantsmen and women who’ve written for the paper on subjects varying from ‘Conflict among the marrows’ to ‘Problems with the secateurs-in-handbag brigade’. This book is perfect for a gentle read, with a mince pie and a glass of mulled wine.

The Allotment Planner, by Matthew Appleby )Frances Lincoln, £14.99)

If you fancy taking on an allotment in the new year, or already have one you’d like to develop further, this handy guide will help you plan your planting schemes and give you insights into how to make the most of your plot. Appleby, a blogging garden journalist on Horticulture Week, has written in a month-by-month format, with bullet point ideas in many sections and practical advice throughout, along with blank pages within each month for your own notes. It’s an easy-to-follow guide with both modern and traditional ideas.

Clondeglass: Creating A Garden Paradise by Dermot O’Neill (Kyle, £25)

This glorious book with beautiful, inspirational pictures, tells the story of the transformation of the walled garden at Clondeglass in Co. Laois, Ireland, from derelict, neglected wasteland to the stunning creation it is today. As the restoration is lovingly recorded, the author’s own personal battle with cancer is also charted as he explores the positive, therapeutic role gardening can play in recovering from a serious illness.

The New English Garden, by Tim Richardson (Frances Lincoln, £40)

This coffee table tome will definitely impress visitors coming for Christmas drinks. It explores an exceptionally rich period in English garden design, selecting 25 gardens which have gone through an intense phase of creativity and innovation in the last 20 years. The gardens chosen (most of which are open to the public), cover the wide range of styles flourishing in English garden design today, including the Prince of Wales’s garden at Highgrove, Trentham Gardens (a Capability Brown landscape imaginatively reworked for the 20th century by Piet Oudolf, Tom Stuart-Smith and Dominic Cole), Arabella Lennox-Boyd’s own garden, and Christopher Bradley-Hole’s Modernist garden at Crockmore House. Illustrated with more than 300 fantastic photographs.