Already attuned to nature, we see the effects of more sunlight on the natural world. Tiny green shoots emerge on southern exposures, hardy little birds begin their chattering and our own green thumbs are feeling the planting itch.

Let’s turn our quickening energies to our houseplants this month. They will gratefully reward you for your tender loving care with robust new growth and you also will have the gardener’s satisfaction of working with the soil.

Since our indoor plants are responding to February’s increased light with new growth spurts, now is the time to check for insects, loosen and refresh the soil, clean leaves of smooth-leaved plants with a water-moistened cloth and perhaps even do a bit of pruning and pinching. You might even consider rooting some new plant starts since light accelerates root production.

I love to promote a day-at-a-spa time for indoor plants. After you’ve loosened and refreshed the soil, place the smaller plant containers in a bathtub filled with a few inches of water. Let the plants sit there for an hour or so to absorb water through their roots. They will benefit from this treatment and from the humidity since most of our indoor plants originated from tropical regions where humidity is over 70 percent, whereas our winter home humidity often hovers around 10 percent.

Q. I love plants and have lots of indoor plants, but all these isolated pots are actually rather boring. Is there anything I can do to have them make a better visual statement?

A. Think container gardening the way you do with your outdoor plants in the summer. Buy a container large enough to hold several plants. Then plant three that have varying textures but require a similar growing environment. You might, for example, grow a philodendron, a dracaena and perhaps a coleus. This will give you height, color and a vine.

Using this grouping technique might even give you an excuse to buy a new plant. Don’t overlook the lowly wandering Jew. Its color and trailing habit can enliven any grouping.

Q. Cacti and succulents intrigue me, but I’ve killed every one I’ve ever had. They sit on a sunny window sill and I water them weekly.

A. WEEKLY? Even monthly watering in winter may be too often. It’s also possible that cold drafts from the window may stress the plants.

Cacti and succulents are wonderful, interesting plants that require benign neglect. These are desert dwellers with tiny shallow roots designed to capture the minimal moisture nature sends them. If they are native to an area that receives seven inches of precipitation a year and you give them that in a month, you can see the problem. Water lightly and infrequently (i.e. every 6-8 weeks or so, depending on the size of the container.) Less is more here. In addition, water in the morning to prevent the plants from becoming waterlogged.

Q. I have a huge spider plant in a hanging pot. It has lots of “baby spiders.” A co-worker said that I can root these for new plants but she really didn’t know how. Help, please.

A. Spider plants are incredibly easy to root. Just snip a few baby spiders off with about three inches of stem connected. Then place them in glasses of water with the bottom of the spider in the water. New roots will quickly emerge from the base of these little spiders. When you see a good healthy root system, plant your new plants in a good grade potting soil and enjoy. Nothing could be easier.

Q. What are those tiny black gnats that fly up from the soil when I water my houseplants? How do I eliminate them?

A. This question repeats itself nearly every year about this time. The fungus gnats are harmless and you can ignore these nuisances. If they really bother you, water less frequently, since they breed in wet soil.

Remove the top few inches of soil, mix in some new potting soil and put your plants outdoors for an hour or so on warm days. A saucer of vinegar will attract the gnats if you want to bother with it. I usually have luck without the vinegar and the gnats seem to disappear with warmer weather and open windows.

February can sometimes be a cold month, but let the increased daylight prevent you from any despair. ASAP cut some branches from some of your flowering shrubs. Bring them indoors, smash the bottom of each branch and then immerse them in a vase in a bright area. They will soon leaf out and the forsythia will even explode into blossoms. Adding a cut flower or three will give you an attractive early touch of spring.

In the meantime keep your eyes alerted for the first golden crocus, a real harbinger of spring.

“There are winter days so full of sudden sunlight that they will cheat the wise crocus into squandering its gold.” –Oscar Wilde.

To sunny February.