Springtime serenity is born during the quiet, contemplative days of winter.

Cold, gloomy days offer gardeners much-needed downtime for envisioning what spring can bring. Whether looking for inspiration or a jumpstart on your gardening endeavors, set aside some time to browse through seed options.

Gardeners can find a wide variety of vegetable, herb and flower seeds in catalogs often delivered to mailboxes throughout the winter. Most modern seed catalogs also can be found through a simple web search and viewed online.

Visit The Old Farmers’ Almanac website for a list of 40-plus free garden seed catalogs and places to buy seeds and plants online.

After you’ve found your seeds, start planning your spring garden. The Old Farmer’s Almanac planting calendar offers recommended planting dates for vegetables, fruit and herbs in your area based on your ZIP code .

To ensure you’re starting off with the right nutrients and pH for desired plants, get to know your garden soil. Winter is a great time to conduct a soil test—as long as the ground isn’t frozen. You can acquire a soil test kit from your local Virginia Cooperative Extension office and submit a sample to the Virginia Tech Soil Testing Lab.

The Virginia Department of Forestry urges gardeners to avoid introducing new invasive plants and always plant native species. Visit the DOF website for resources on invasive species that threaten Virginia’s forests and landscapes, including tools to help identify and combat these species.