Some of Zammit’s predictions for the year ahead:

• Drinking from the garden: Mojitos made with our own potted Cuban mint, bloody marys using homegrown dill. Plus teas, smoothies and syrups.

“The drinkable component of gardening is growing,” he says. “It’s an extension of the urban farming movement which will continue strongly. And we’ll be more social, sharing those drinks and our expertise about food plants with friends.”

• Novelty veggies: Kale in all shapes and colours will stay hot, but young foodies will seek out new edible excitement.

“We grew kalettes, a cross between kale and Brussels sprouts, at the Toronto Botanical Garden last summer and they went nuts over it because it looked cool and is good for us,” he says.

• Hot herb. Millennials love edible flowers. In 2016, Zammit is betting his money on African blue Basil (Ocimum kilimandscharicum), “Dark opal.”

“The flowers and foliage look beautiful. You can eat both. And this herb is a magnet for pollinators and great as a cut flower.”

Edible floral arrangements — using all kinds of herbs and blooms from the garden — also push the right buttons. Zammit loves concocting these himself.

• Pollinator flowers: Gardening with bees in mind (particularly beleaguered honey bees), as well as birds and butterflies, is a growing trend.

“I was thrilled by the response to the Got Milkweed Campaign in 2015,” he says. “Gardeners of all ages are becoming increasingly aware of the power of the plants they choose to buy. No longer do we just pick them for their colour.”

• More native plants. We want them and we’re getting more interested in biodiversity. Zammit forecasts that many gardeners will want to learn how to make ecologically-sound choices for their front and backyards in 2016.

• Sustainable practices, less waste. More plastic plant pots will be recycled, instead of winding up in landfill sites. Locally produced plants will be in. Fewer homeowners will pile their leaves into paper bags for city trucks to collect.

“Collecting and shredding leaves, then using them to amend the soil, is actually in fashion,” Zammit says, sounding rather surprised.

• Gardening for health: More people will become aware of the physical and mental benefits of working in the garden, instead of merely treating the backyard as an outdoor living room.

Well, amen to that. Here’s to the joys of staying fit with a trowel in your hand next spring.

Tuscaloosa County Master Gardeners were asked to submit their gardening resolutions.  Amelia Pilsch resolves to stop trying to rescue plants from the bargain bin at the big box stores and to incorporate more natives into her yard.  Sybil Phillips wants to take a look at what she can let go in the garden and resolves to choose garden chores that will be more gratifying, and add color.

Did you mean to add your garden resolutions to the list?  If so, just leave a reply.

I’m still looking for people to profile in future articles who inspired you to become a gardener.  You can submit those to me, Amelia PIlsch at ampil2010@gmail.com.

Again, Happy New Year!