Find like-minded companions

Whether you are looking for knowledgable friends to share your interest, or company for garden visiting trips, there are plenty of ways of finding someone. And for singles looking for a life partner, then it does seem to make sense to look for a common interest.

Gardening clubs and groups

Membership of local, regional and national gardening clubs and associations, catering for general or very focussed plant and garden interests are an obvious way to meet others.

On a very local level, gardening clubs, friends of a particular garden, garden-appreciation societies and garden centre events also draw together people who might not otherwise meet. Additionally there are often travel+garden show trips organised by clubs and travel companies where you will automatically find other plant and garden afficiandos.

If you can't find a kindred spirit amongst the local membership, then the national gardening organisations may publish membership magazines or newsletters with information about events and possibly classified ads, including personal columns. Websites and online forums also broaden the scope for meeting up.

Activity networks

To widen your social circle, Facebook and other social networking websites might turn up new contacts if you use the right keywords in the search field.

Friendship and dating agencies

The next step is a friendship or dating agency - there are scores of these aimed at different age groups and interests, but they vary in cost and quality. Often they cater for companionship as well as romance. The first thing to check is the country/ies they include and where the majority of their subscribers live, since the largest English-speaking market is the USA and you will probably want to restrict yourself to the UK. Any other tips? Please share them in the comments section below.

The following are friendship and dating agencies (in alphabetical order) we've found that cater for UK residents:

• Cupid . For friendship and dating.
• Dating for Parents . Pretty self explanatory!
• Love and Friends . Lists graduates and professionals.
• Match . Just register, create a profile and then browse the dating profiles of potential matches.
• Match Affinity . Suggests compatible matches based on your personality report (generated from a questionnaire on your values, opinions, personality and expectations). First contact with a suggested match is free.
• Mature Dating UK - for 40 yr olds and over.
• Parship - described as the serious dating site. For those looking for long-term relationships.
• People Connection . Lists people according to location and interest (300 interests so far) . You pay £3 pa to register yourself in a particular area.