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ON a map of Northern Italy, Rimini appears as a large bulge on the thirty-mile stretch of luxurious, finely-sanded beaches which make up the Adriatic Riviera. If this sounds like an extract from a publicity blurb, it is because I am remembering a particularly delightful fortnight I spent there, staying very comfortably at one of the ultra-modern hotels which are set in wide, tree-lined avenues.

\"MONTMARTRE in Hampstead,\" whispered the headline, and the old lady, reading it, turned to me and said, \"And well it might be: Hampstead 's no longer the respectable place it used to be.\" The article was really concerned with the many new and good restaurants which are opening in Hampstead, but the analogy goes a little deeper than was suggested: in Hampstead, there thrives a lively arts community, and it is very much a village. Constable lived there and wrote of it, \"I love every stile and stump and lane in the village.\" Here, too, lived Keats and Johnson, Romney and Leigh Hunt. The Hampstead Subscription Library where Dickens and Thackeray worked is still used by the many local writers.

Brightwater's trips with Tresco's head gardener, Mike Nelhams, as guide are particularly good, according to my fellow travellers. \"He knew the name of every plant, he walked around with you, he was just so helpful,\" said one. An Islay Wildlife Spring Watch starts from 495 for four days. You can go further afield, too: in October Brightwater has a tour to Brazil, the holiday of a lifetime for those who long to see the exotic post-colonial gardens of Roberto Burle Marx. Linger in these private showpieces, then get escorted around Brazil's extraordinary botanical gardens (starts from 2,995). You don't have to restrict yourselves to gardening holidays. Greentours (www. greentours.co.uk) takes small groups to some of the world's wildest places to look at birds, butterflies and flowers. \"Iran is the most gorgeous country,\" says Fiona Dunbar, who co-runs the firm. \"The people are friendly, and the food delicious.\" Greentours organises all the Alpine Garden Society's tours. \"It's not just experts who come on the holidays,\" says co-founder Ian Green. \"Yes, you get members of the group who've written books, but you also get those who are there to learn, and those who just want to walk and see these incredible places.\"

Gardening resolutions - whether made in January or any other time of the year - generally last about 10 minutes, but we still make them. There's something nice about mulling over plans, and if the thoughts hover in the depths of our subconscious, eventually they should have some influence, shouldn't they? In spite of all the flooding in 2007, drought is still the biggest problem for those of us gardening on light soils. So first I'm going to mulch everywhere. Then I'm going to assess each plant in my garden to see whether there is a more drought-tolerant alternative. There are more rewarding summer gardening jobs than lugging watering cans about. We'd love gardeners to volunteer on a Trees for Cities planting day, to help make some bleak urban spaces a little greener. Or you could sponsor a tree. It's not just about London - this year we are planting in Bristol, Leeds, Addis Ababa and Nairobi.